Case Reports

A BBC Scotland journalist who was required to leave a closed hearing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court had his freedom of expression rights breached after the sheriff failed to consider the principle of open justice and the presence of the press, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. The Strasbourg

A community catering enterprise seeking £5.25 million from two Serco companies has been allowed to take its fraudulent misrepresentation case to proof after the Outer House rejected arguments that its pleadings were irrelevant or insufficiently specific. Well-Fed Scotland CIC claims that Serco

A Universal Credit claimant has failed in a judicial review challenge to a requirement that she provide four months of unredacted bank statements as part of a Department for Work and Pensions review of her benefit entitlement. Lady Haldane held that regulation 38(2) of the Universal Credit, Personal

Aramark has failed in an appeal against a Competition Appeal Tribunal decision refusing to extend the time for challenging a Competition and Markets Authority ruling requiring it to divest Scottish offshore catering company Entier Limited. The Inner House held that the tribunal had been entitled to

A man convicted of sexual and other offences against four complainers has failed in an appeal alleging that the trial judge unfairly undermined the defence case when directing the jury about missing witnesses and wrongly introduced the concept of grooming. The High Court of Justiciary Appeal Court h

Tesco has failed in a judicial review challenge to a decision by Dumfries and Galloway Council allowing Sainsbury’s to operate a supermarket at an existing retail park outside Dumfries town centre. Lord Sandison held that the council had properly considered the relevant national and local plan

A father has failed in an attempt to replace a long-standing equal shared care arrangement for his two daughters with an unequal division in his favour after a sheriff held that the existing arrangements remained in the children’s best interests. Sheriff J Speir held that the father had not pr

A registered childcare practitioner has failed in an appeal against a Scottish Social Services Council fitness to practise decision despite a sheriff finding that the panel erred in its handling of its only eyewitness after she refused to complete her evidence. Sheriff Gregor Murray held that the Fi

A life prisoner has failed in an action for damages against the Scottish ministers after a Parole Board document intended for him was mistakenly delivered to another prisoner with the same surname. Sheriff S Reid accepted that the Scottish Prison Service had committed a data protection breach by sen

A marine services company has failed in an action seeking to limit its liability for losses arising from the toppling of a research vessel in a Leith dry dock after the Outer House held that it had not relevantly established jurisdiction and could not constitute a limitation fund before any claims h

A man who sought to have divorce proceedings in Scotland sisted pending the outcome of matrimonial proceedings in California has failed in his application after the Outer House held that the balance of fairness and convenience favoured allowing the Scottish action to continue. Lady Tait accepted tha

An Indian national who sought to extend her leave to remain as a Tier 1 entrepreneur has failed in a judicial review challenge based on Home Office guidance which continued to refer to a Covid-era concession after the concession had been withdrawn. Lord Harrower held that the guidance could not give

The High Court of Justiciary Appeal Court has confirmed that forensic evidence of sexual intercourse can corroborate a complainer’s account of rape even where the evidence is, viewed in isolation, equally consistent with consensual sex. In a significant ruling clarifying the modern law of corr

A man convicted of rape has lost an appeal against a preliminary hearing judge's refusal to admit evidence of messages and alleged remarks made by the complainer before the incident, with the High Court of Justiciary finding that their exclusion had not resulted in a miscarriage of justice. The appe

The father of a five-year-old girl who died following negligent delays in medical treatment, and the woman who later became his wife, have been awarded a total of £225,000 in damages after the Outer House rejected an NHS board’s argument that their claims were time-barred. Lord Arthurson