Case Reports

Andrew Coulson, the former editor of the defunct tabloid the News of the World, has been acquitted of perjury by a judge at the High Court in Edinburgh. Mr Coulson, 47, the Prime Minister’s former director of communications, was accused of giving “false evidence” in the 2010 perjury trial of e

A Slovakian man wanted by authorities in his home country to serve a prison sentence for a “joy-riding” offence which occurred more than a decade ago will not be extradited. A sheriff ruled that it would be “oppressive” to return him given the passage of time since he committed the “relati

, aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming social relationships or obtaining results in competition at all levels”. “One can see the advantage of that,” Mr Justice Mostyn observed, “in that it would result in consistency across the continent on what is o

A motorist who was sentenced to nine years imprisonment after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving has had his custodial term reduced on appeal. Murray Geddes was jailed for nine years, that period having been reduced by two years to reflect the early plea, and was disqualified from

A former “sapper” who was sentenced to three years imprisonment after being convicted of drugs-related offences has had his custodial reduced on appeal. The Criminal Appeal Court ruled that the sentence imposed was “excessive” and reduced it to one of 18 months.

of those proceedings was a “wrongful retention” within the meaning of the Convention, on the basis that the children were “habitually resident” in France immediately before proceedings commenced. A judge in the Outer House concluded that the children were still habitually resident in France

The minimum period of 15 years which certain sex offenders subject to mandatory notification requirements must wait before seeking a review does not breach their human rights, appeal judges have ruled. The Inner House of the Court of Session held that the review provisions applicable to indefinite n

A patient at a psychiatric treatment facility who sought judicial review over the failure by the Scottish Government to draft and lay regulations to allow him to challenge the level of security of his detention has had his petition dismissed. The UK Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the failure by th

A man who sought to a publish a book detailing the his life including details of severe physical and sexual abuse but whose first wife opposed its publication on the basis it would cause psychological harm to their child has won his appeal at the UK Supreme Court. President of the Supreme Court Lord

A man charged with a number of contraventions of the Road Traffic Act 1988, including drink-driving and driving while disqualified, has failed in a bid to have the case against him dismissed over the delay in bringing him to trial. The Criminal Appeal Court upheld a sheriff’s decision to refuse th

The Christian directors of a bakery “unlawfully discriminated” against a gay man in refusing to accept his order for a “Bert and Ernie” cake bearing a caption supporting same-sex marriage. A judge at Belfast County Court held that the Ashers Bakery, run by husband and wife Colin McArthur and

A prisoner who claimed the restraint used by security officers to take him from jail to attend hospital appointments was “disproportionate” is to be awarded damages after a sheriff ruled the inmate’s human rights had been breached. The pursuer James McDowall argued that the absence of an “in

A company whose application for planning permission to develop a windfarm was refused has failed in an appeal against that decision. Judges in the Inner House of the Court of Session ruled that there was “no question of any illegality or procedural impropriety such as would justify quashing the de

The Criminal Appeal Court has issued an opinion clarifying the circumstances in which a sheriff can decline to accept the basis of a plea in mitigation in the absence of proof. The Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Carloway, sitting with Lord Malcolm, heard that in January 2015 at Inverness Sheriff Court, th

A prison officer who was injured while taking part in a riot training exercise has had an action for damages refused. A sheriff ruled that the pursuer failed to prove that the accident was caused to any extent by a breach by the defenders of any statutory obligation incumbent on them, or by fault on