Case Reports

A homeowner has been refused leave to appeal against a decision of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission to dismiss his complaint against a legal firm as “totally without merit”. Refusing the application, a judge in the Court of Session said he was “unable to detect any error of law or irra

An action for damages for "loss of society" brought by the biological siblings of a person who was adopted into another family and later died has been dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that the biological members of the family of a person who has been adopted have "no title to sue" fo

The Supreme Court has unanimously allowed a legal charity’s appeal against the Lord Chancellor to introduce a residence test for civil legal aid on the basis it is ultra vires. Following a hearing at which the court heard argument on the ultra vires issue and indicated that it did not need to hear

A solicitor responsible for a litany of failures has been found guilty of professional misconduct and struck off by the Scottish Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal. The Tribunal, having considered the amended Complaints at the instance of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland against William M

The Secretary of State was not obligated, under the circumstances, to investigate the consequences of serving a foreign judgment on an Egyptian national. Mamdouh Ismail was the chairman of the board of a company whose ferry sank in the Red Sea in February 2006, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths. M

The beneficiary of a patent licence must pay the agreed royalty even if it does not infringe the patented technology, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled. Since the royalty constitutes the price to be paid in order to protect the licensee against any infringement proceedings

The sole director of a company which failed to provide adequate insurance for its employees was not personally liable in damages to the appellant who suffered an injury while working. By a majority of 3:2, the Supreme Court has today upheld the majority decision of the Inner House in a case brought

A Largs letting agent has become the first in Scotland to be sanctioned for breaching rules that secure the deposits of their tenants. The landmark ruling against Colvin Houston Ltd at Kilmarnock Sherriff Court – which was triggered by North Ayrshire Council’s Trading Standards team – could no

The Scottish Government has been found in contempt of court again after prison officers breached, for a second time, an undertaking not to open an inmate’s letters. A judge in the Court of Session described the second breach by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) as an “affront to the authority of

A man found guilty of sexual assault has successfully appealed against his conviction after appeal sheriffs ruled that there was no corroboration of the complainer’s account. The Sheriff Appeal Court held that with a statutory libel there had to be corroborated evidence of “an assault which was

A challenge to a 2008 decision endorsing a prohibition on settlement of the British Indian Ocean Territories has been dismissed by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal by a majority of 3 to 2. Lord Mance gave the majority judgment, with which Lord Neuberger agreed. Lord Clarke g

An appeal which sought to challenge a sheriff’s decision to grant a residence order on the basis that the sheriff erred in making certain findings in fact has been dismissed as “entirely devoid of merit”. The note of appeal challenged the sheriff’s approach to evidence led at a child welfare

A Scots lawyer who challenged a decision by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission to allow a late complaint from an expert witness over the solicitor's firm's alleged failure to pay a fee of £15,000 has had her application for leave to appeal dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session refused th

Mike Ashley has been ordered to pay the expenses of the Scottish Football Association and Dave King after his petition for judicial review of a decision of football’s governing body to approve the Rangers chairman as a “fit and proper person” to hold the position of director of Rangers Interna

The owner of a small business who was banned from the road for six months after being caught driving while using a mobile phone has successfully appealed against his disqualification. The Sheriff Appeal Court allowed the appeal after the appellant argued that his disqualification from driving would