Case Reports

A Russian journalist and an editor convicted of “insult” for publishing a news story complaining about an allegedly corrupt mayor had their article 10 right to freedom of expression violated, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. The case concerned the criminal conviction, for insult, of

A motorist who was ordered by a sheriff to forfeit his car after he admitted failing to provide a breath sample when stopped by police has had an appeal against what he claimed was an “excessive” penalty dismissed. The Sheriff Appeal Court refused the appeal after ruling that the sentence impose

An estate owner who is challenging plans for a new wind farm in Ayrshire and was granted a protective expenses order following an appeal has failed in a bid to make the respondents and the interested party jointly and severally liable in expenses to him and for an “additional fee”. Judges in the

A Scottish conveyancing solicitor who acted in a series of transactions where the loan paid by the mortgage lender to the purchaser of the property “significantly exceeded” the actual price paid to the seller has been found guilty of “professional misconduct”. Sheena Savage, a former anti-mo

The General Court has annulled the Commission’sdecision classifying the unlimited implied guarantee granted by France to one of its public establishment as state aid. The Commission failed to explain or prove that that guarantee has the effect of conferring an actual economic advantage on the Inst

A man found guilty of charges of wilful fire-raising who claimed there was “insufficient evidence” of identification of him as the perpetrator of the offences has failed in an appeal against conviction and sentence. The Criminal Appeal Court refused the appeal after upholding a sheriff’s decis

Over a million British expats have been denied the right to vote in the EU referendum following a ruling of the Supreme Court that people who have lived outside of the UK for more than 15 years cannot vote on June 23. Around 1-2 million expats would have been allowed to cast their vote to determine

The EU trade mark representing the shape of a Rubik’s Cube must be declared invalid on the basis it covers the generic function of the product and could therefore frustrate competition according to an Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union. At the request of Seven Towns, a

A Scots lawyer convicted of making and sharing indecent images of children has been struck off the solicitors’ roll after being found guilty of “professional misconduct”. Retired solicitor John Urquhart, 68, was found to have dozens of child sex abuse images on his personal computer.

Scottish secondary legislation restricting student loans to under 55s breaches the right against age discrimination and is therefore “ultra vires”, a judge in the Court of Session has ruled. Lady Scott upheld a claim by a 56-year-old woman that the relevant regulations amounted to “unlawful di

A man serving a sentence of life imprisonment for murder who claimed that the prison service has failed to provide him with a reasonable opportunity to rehabilitate himself has had a petition for judicial review dismissed by a judge in the Court of Session. Stuart Quinn argued that the Scottish Mini

The Supreme Court has unanimously granted a celebrity permission to appeal the discharge of an interim injunction regarding his sexual encounters and, by a majority, has allowed the appeal. This case considered whether the publication overseas of the identity of PJS and details of PJS’s sexual enc

Health and safety inspectors have failed in an appeal against a tribunal’s decision to cancel a prohibition notice issued to a North Sea oil company. The Inner House of the Court of Session refused the appeal, which raised a particularly important issue on the scope of an appeal to the employment

A High Court judge has issued a note following the conviction of a couple who were was charged with causing death by dangerous driving while both were sitting in the driver’s seat, after one of the two accused claimed he was not “driving” the vehicle at the material time. Nathaniel Cooper and

The Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal (SSDT) has found a former solicitor guilty of professional misconduct in relation to 14 transactions, having considered the complaint against her dated 15 January 2015 at the instance of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland. The SSDT found Sheena