Case Reports

The owners of a luxury block of flats overlooking the Old Course in St Andrews have failed in an appeal against a decision by the local authority assessor to describe two of the apartments as a “showhouse” on the valuation roll. The Lands Valuation Appeal Court upheld a decision of the valuation

A police officer who was banned from driving after jumping a red light and crashing into two cars while en route to an emergency call has successfully appealed against her 12-month disqualification. The Sheriff Appeal Court quashed the sentence imposed and endorsed the former officer’s licence wit

A youth who was found guilty of raping two boys and sentenced to six years’ detention has had his sentence quashed and substituted with a custodial term of five years and an extension period of three years following an appeal. The Criminal Appeal Court ruled that the sentencing judge erred in fail

A name containing several tokens of nobility and freely chosen by a German in another member state of which he also holds the nationality does not necessarily have to be recognised in Germany, the European Court of Justice has ruled. Mr Nabiel Peter Bogendorff von Wolffersdorff, who was born in Germ

A magistrate was not entitled to impose a driving ban on a motorist convicted of driving while using a mobile phone and without insurance having already determined that “exceptional hardship” had been established, the Sheriff Appeal Court has ruled. Daniel Hamand successfully appealed against hi

The man found guilty of the murder of Elaine Doyle, who claimed that the jury’s verdict was “unreasonable”, has had an appeal against conviction refused. John Docherty, who was sentenced to life imprisonment with a punishment part of 21 years in 2014 for the 1986 murder, also argued that the m

A ban on wearing headscarves in companies may be admissible if it is based on a general company rule which prohibits political, philosophical and religious symbols from being worn visibly in the workplace to ensure religious and ideological neutrality, in the opinion of an advocate general of the Co

A Ugandan woman who came to the UK to join her husband after he was granted refugee status has successfully challenged a decision by the Home Secretary to refuse her application for “indefinite leave to remain” as a victim of domestic abuse. The woman, who lives in Glasgow, applied for ILR after

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