Opinion

The Scottish government is careful to limit the public's participation in the legal system so as not to frustrate its own ends, suggests Andrew Stevenson. In the preface to his 1906 satire The Doctor’s Dilemma, George Bernard Shaw launched a coruscating attack on the medical profession as it t

David J Black reads the fine print of the Book Festival furore. Many of us may share the underlying views of those who believe we should be cutting back on the use of fossil fuels to save the planet, but scratch beneath the indignant morality of the latest attack by a number of Greta Thunberg inspir

Slovakia might be a distant land, and Covid a distant memory. But a significant case brought to the European Court of Human Rights could bring closure to some of the legal questions posed during the pandemic – much-needed closure that many European nations have not yet received, writes Lo

In 2013, I was an in-house lawyer with Standard Life, on the Law Society’s In-House Lawyers Committee, and heard about an inaugural Scottish Legal Walk in Edinburgh. This Access to Justice Foundation event, in aid of local legal advice charities, was on the first of October that year. I went a

In the almost 30 years since the introduction of protocols for personal injury claims, voluntary then compulsory, pursuers and defenders alike have often accused each other of failing to act “within the spirit” of the applicable protocol. The well-worn issue was raised again in two recen

Currently, companies which benefit from fraudulent acts by employees or contractors are rarely prosecuted, but that will almost certainly change when new laws come into force which make it far easier to prosecute and to hold companies criminally liable for failing to prevent fraud from which they be

Every advance in the dissemination of human knowledge – from the printing press to newspapers, television and the internet – has initially been seen as much as a threat as an opportunity. But few new systems have been greeted with such suspicion as AI, writes Sinead Machin. Largely

Neil Stevenson welcomes the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill, but ignores or fails to notice that the Scottish government is proposing a legal services regulator to take control of the entire legal profession. That would include entry to it, standards of education, discipline within and

Stuart McWilliams discusses the upcoming increases in UK visa fees, the impact on applicants and employers, and suggests strategies to minimise the financial burden of these changes. They say the only certain things in life are death and taxes, but most immigration lawyers will tell you that rising

The Scottish Law Agents’ Society has responded to Holyrood's consultation on the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill. A condensed version of the response is reproduced below. We are deeply uneasy about why the Scottish government feels that it is desirable, appropriate or necessary to

The Flexible Working Bill will likely see more employees become aware of the right to make flexible working requests and the volume of these requests will increase, Laura Salmond suggests. On 29 July 2023, the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill received Royal Assent. These amendments

Robin Turnbull writes about the recent legal victory for trade unions in the UK, making it illegal for employers to use agency staff to cover the work of striking employees, and discusses the potential implications. Following a recent legal challenge by 13 trade unions, it is now illegal for em

Andy Drane looks at the emerging trend of large corporations partnering with landowners to finance carbon offset projects as part of their efforts to reach net zero emissions, and discusses the opportunities, risks, and considerations involved for the landowners. Most landowners will fully recognise

Sheriffs across Scotland make decisions every day in contact/residence cases that will affect the lives of children not just for this month or this year but will influence their relationships for the rest of their life. Their decisions are made ‘in the best interests of the child’. But h

As is my wont, I will try to avoid ambiguity – the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill is, in part, dangerous and not just because some of the drafting is appalling. I will not comment on the whole bill but on a few aspects.I am not suggesting that there is no roo