Case Reports

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled 13-4 that there was no violation of article 2, the right to life - investigation, of the European Convention on Human Rights, regarding the UK's failure to prosecute anyone after police fatally shot Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian national mi

A cyclist who was injured after being “catapulted” over his bike when the front wheel hit a metal strip in the road has successfully sued a Scottish council after a judge ruled that the roads authority was liable. Lady Wolffe ) in the Court of Session held that the defenders were in breach of th

The man found guilty of the “World’s End” murders has had his appeal against sentence refused. Angus Sinclair, who was convicted in 2014 of raping and murdering teenagers Helen Scott and Christine Eadie in 1977, argued that the punishment part of 37 years – the “longest in Scotland to date

A man found guilty of assaulting and robbing a homeless person who claimed that the sheriff erred in repelling a “no case to answer” submission and that the sheriff “misdirected” the jury has failed in an appeal against conviction. The Criminal Appeal Court refused the appeal after ruling th

A man accused of assault and a statutory breach of the peace who was acquitted after a sheriff refused to grant a further adjournment in a part-heard trial will now have to face the charges after the Crown successfully challenged the decision. The Sheriff Appeal Court passed a Bill of Advocation tak

A “good arguable case” for the purposes of proceeds of crime proceedings in which an enforcement authority is seeking the civil recovery of property obtained through “unlawful conduct” is not necessarily one which has a “good prospect of succeeding”, appeal judges have ruled. The Inner H

A garden centre cafe employee who was injured at work after falling in the kitchen has had an action for damages dismissed after failing to prove his claim that he slipped on an onion. A judge in the Court of Session absolved the defenders because he was “not persuaded on the balance of probabilit

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled* the Dublin III Regulation allows member states to send an applicant for international protection to a safe third country, irrespective of whether it is the member state responsible for processing the application or another member state. Th

A ferry operator that sued the Scottish Government after it unsuccessfully bid for a contract to provide services between the Northern Isles and mainland Scotland has failed in a £12 million damages action. A judge in the Court of Session dismissed the claim by Shetland Line (1984) Limited because

The European Court of Justice has dismissed an action by The Body Shop to have a decision of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) to reject its application for registration of the trade mark “SPA WISDOM” annulled. In 2010, The Body Shop International, established in Littleh

The Inner House of the Court of Session has published its reasons for refusing an appeal by a man found guilty of murder against a decision to refuse his freedom of information request for CCTV images which he claims “undermine his conviction”. Judges refused the appeal by David Gilroy, who was

A young person with autism who was granted decree against a local authority to pay for a further year of his education at a private school for pupils with special educational needs after he turned 18 has seen the decision overturned on appeal. Judges in the Inner House of the Court of Session ruled

The Supreme Court has ruled that bonuses awarded by banks to employees in the form of redeemable shares in offshore companies, in order to take advantage of ITEPA provisions, should be treated – for income tax purposes – as if they had been paid in cash. Lord Neuberger, Lord Mance, Lord Reed, Lo

A man found guilty of murder whose conviction was later quashed following a successful appeal has had a legal bid for compensation for the years he spent in prison refused for a third time. A judge in the Court of Session dismissed the petition for judicial review of a decision to refuse the applica

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of a company which claimed a rival had infringed its design of a ride-on suitcase for children, affirming criticisms made by the Court of Appeal that the Community Registered Design (CRD) for the product was not simply a claim for a suitcase shape but for a