Case Reports

The lending of an electronic book (e-book) may, under certain conditions, be treated in the same way as the lending of a traditional book. In such a situation, the public lending exception, which provides inter alia for the fair remuneration of authors, is applicable, the Court of Justice of the Eur

A bookmaker who claimed that he was “deprived of earnings” because he was not offered a pitch in what he alleged to be a more lucrative part of Musselburgh racecourse on Ladies’ Day has had his case dismissed. Stanley Wood argued that the Musselburgh Joint Racing Committee breached his licence

The Rubik’s Cube shape is not an EU trademark and its non-visible functional elements including its rotating ability should have been considered when it was registered, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled. At the request of Seven Towers, a UK company which manages, inter al

A company which was granted an interdict to prevent a former employee using or sharing confidential commercial information and a court order to recover the “highly sensitive” material has been awarded the expenses of the whole petition. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that the expenses sho

A domestic assault victim who applied for criminal injuries compensation more than 30 years later but was told by a tribunal that her claim was “time-barred” has had an appeal against the decision dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session held that there was “no error of law” in the tribuna

EU law does not preclude an increase in the share capital of a bank without the agreement of the general meeting of the shareholders in a situation where there is a serious disturbance of the economy and the financial system of a member state, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ru

Social housing sector tenants who challenged the so called “bedroom tax” have received a mixed outcome at the Supreme Court. Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Sumption, Lord Carnwath, Lord Hughes and Lord Toulson heard the cases, which relate to the cap on housing benefit introduced by

An electricity company which was fined £1.75 million for breaching health and safety legislation after a worker was badly burned has had the financial penalty reduced by £550,000 following an appeal. Scottish Power Generation pled guilty to breaches of sections 2(1) and 33(1)(a) of the Health and

“Limbs in the loch” killer William Beggs has successfully challenged a decision by prison governors to refuse his requests to have a personal computer in jail. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) will now have to reconsider his request after a Court of Session judge ruled that "inadequate reasons�

A supermarket which claimed that the opening of a rival store less than one mile away reduced its value has had an appeal rejected. The Lands Valuation Appeal Court of the Court of Session dismissed an argument by Tesco that the opening of a larger Morrisons store in Kirkcaldy town centre constitute

A motorist who was given a community payback order and banned from the road after he admitted falling asleep at the wheel and crashing into an oncoming vehicle has successfully appealed against his sentence, in the first reported Scottish decision to consider the offence of causing injury by dangero

A car finance company which applied to a court to have a customer jailed after he failed to pay the instalments have had their application refused by a sheriff. The pursuers Moneybarn No 1 had agreed with the defender Steven Bell that he would purchase a car for a specified sum, but he did not pay a

An appeal by the occupiers of the so-called “Independence Camp” against a move to evict them from the grounds of the Scottish Parliament has been rejected. The Inner House of the Court of Session upheld a decision by Lord Turnbull that that the order seeking their removal was “proportionate”

The extension of the period of validity of existing state aid must be regarded as the alteration of that aid and, therefore, as new aid, the Court of Justice of the Europen Union has held. In 1960, DEI, a public electricity company, entered into a contract with Alouminion, a Greek company specialise

A Somalian refugee convicted of rape who successfully challenged a decision to deport him to his home country on human rights grounds has seen an appeal against that ruling refused. The Inner House of the Court of Session refused an appeal by the Home Secretary against an Upper Tribunal ruling, whic