Mitchell Skilling

A lord ordinary has excluded from proof a series of averments in a dispute between a telecoms company and a couple living in a former railway cottage over the proposed installation of a mast approximately half a kilometre from their property in Caithness concerning the ownership of a private level c

The Inner House of the Court of Session has refused an appeal by the mother of a child of dual Nigerian-Italian nationality against the grant of an adoption order sought by another Nigerian national living in England in respect of her now nine-year-old son, having found that there was no merit in an

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has allowed an appeal by a London firm of solicitors against a finding that it had unlawfully deducted just over £7,800 in wages from a newly qualified solicitor by failing to make a commission payment due under his contract of employment, after finding that it w

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has allowed an appeal against a decision that a company that contracted for the purchase of millions of face masks during the Covid-19 pandemic was due to pay $16 million to the seller after finding that the High Court judge had decided the case on grounds no

A sheriff has granted an application by a single woman in her late forties to adopt a four-year-old child and dispensed with the consent of her parents after determining that they would be unable to satisfactorily discharge their responsibilities for the foreseeable future and the orders they propos

The High Court of Justiciary has quashed a sheriff’s findings that a man who refused to attend a Housing Department meeting to be set up with approved housing during a period of supervised release had breached the conditions of his supervised release order, after finding that the procedure fol

The Sheriff Appeal Court has quashed the conviction of a woman fined £100 for shouting and swearing and making a homophobic remark to a female complainer after finding that the justice of the peace had not adequately explained in her verdict why she preferred the evidence of the complainer. El

A lord ordinary has ruled that a claim by an Indian national seeking asylum in the UK on the basis of his homosexuality could not be regarded as clearly unfounded for the purposes of section 94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 after finding that it was not impossible that a tribun

A sheriff has awarded £3,216 in damages to a lorry driver who was injured when a learner motorcyclist collided with the back of his lorry and he fell from the steps outside the cab after he rejected an argument that the force involved in the crash was too small to cause any injury. Pursuer Joh

A lord ordinary has granted a petition for adoption raised by a separated couple that no longer resided in the same household after finding that it was not necessary for a couple to reside together in order to create an enduring family relationship. Petitioners AB and CD separated in July 2023, two

A sheriff principal has ruled that the rules of procedure of the Sheriff Appeal Court do not allow it to overturn an earlier decision made by the court in the same judicial process after the issue arose in an remitted case for medical negligence raised by a man who committed criminal offences after

A Perth sheriff has ordered a man who drove through a motorway barrier to pay just over £8,000 after finding that the majority of the costs claimed by the highways contractor responsible for carrying out emergency repairs to the site were reasonable. Bear Scotland Ltd, which was responsible fo

A sheriff has reduced the price payable for an asbestos removal service after a business contracted by the owner of a derelict farm building but ordered the customer to pay the remaining outstanding amount after finding that the cleaning company had breached the requirement to exercise reasonable ca

A judge in the High Court of England and Wales has granted an interim injunction sought by a boxing promoter preventing one of its senior employees from doing work for a rival promotion after finding that there was a risk of irrecoverable damage to the claimants if it was not granted. Claimant Boxxe

A Stirling sheriff has granted decree of divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown between a couple who occupied a rented council property after a physical altercation in January 2024 but refused to allow a transfer of the tenancy from the defender to the pursuer after finding her case to be