Case Reports

Bills of suspension against incidental warrants such as those to take samples or to search remain subject to the “supervisory jurisdiction” of the High Court of Justiciary rather than the Sheriff Appeal Court, appeal judges have ruled. The Criminal Appeal Court held that such bills are still for

A Hungarian national of Roma origin’s complaint that the authorities failed to investigate allegations she suffered racial abuse and threats from participants in an anti-Roma march has been upheld by a majority at the European Court of Human Rights. The court considered in particular that, given t

Advocate General Wathelet of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has stated the posting of a hyperlink to a website which published photos without authorisation does not in itself constitute a copyright infringement. The motivation of the person who placed the hyperlink and the fact th

A motorist who was given eight penalty points on his driving licence after being convicted of “tailgating” another vehicle on a motorway has failed in an appeal against what he claimed was a “manifestly excessive” sentence. The Sheriff Appeal Court refused the appeal after ruling that the sh

The execution of a European Arrest Warrant must be deferred if there is a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment because of the conditions of detention of the person concerned in the member state where the warrant was issued. And, if the existence of that risk cannot be discounted within a reas

A man found guilty of carrying an “offensive weapon” in public after witnesses saw him brandishing two knives and chasing youths in a street “as if he was going to stab someone” has failed in an appeal against conviction. The Criminal Appeal Court dismissed the appellant’s claim that the s

A man found guilty of being concerned in the supply of cocaine who lodged a special defence of incrimination which he later had to withdraw due to a lack of evidence to support it has failed in an appeal against conviction after claiming that prosecutors failed in their duty to disclose information

The man convicted of the “limbs in the loch” murder has had an appeal against a decision of the Scottish Information Commissioner concerning a freedom of information request he made to the former Strathclyde Police over its handling of the murder inquiry refused. William Beggs argued that the de

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