Features

The oldest law firm in Ayrshire has begun celebrating its 150th anniversary. A series of special events during 2026 will mark a century-and-a-half of Lockharts Law, whose history can be traced to a humble room in Ayr’s Wellington Square when John Lockhart began representing the official b

It is 1831 and the good people of Cromarty are setting up a circulating library. A list of suggested titles is purchased, read, handed to the next book club member on the list and then they are discussed… well, not very often as this intricate tale of books, romances, relationships, politics,

The Scottish government is considering whether the age at which young people may marry or register a civil partnership should be raised from 16 years old to 18. Writing for Scottish Legal News, Professor Elaine E Sutherland argues that how Scots law addressed the capacity and responsibility of child

The Scottish government’s planned exemptions from rent control measures within the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 signal a more stable and investable landscape for developers, investors and funders, offering a timely catalyst for boosting housing supply across Scotland, write Russell Munro and Pa

Mahbooba Faiz, an Afghan-born lawyer based in Ireland, uncovers the detail of the Taliban's new diktat on criminal procedure. After nearly four years of legislative opacity and rule by decree, on 4 January 2026, the Taliban issued a new legal document in the Pashto language titled the “Crimina

The Einstein murders were listed as number 2,550 of the total of 5,884 incidents in the Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy. The place of the crimes was the Villa Il Focardo, 15 miles southeast of Florence, in 1944. German soldiers arrived at the home of Robert Einstein and his family. He w

John MacLaren Barclay (1811-1886) – Hugh Barclay (1799–1884), LLD, Sheriff Substitute Credit: Perth Art Gallery

The "sale of solicitors' practices to investment companies" was a danger posed by the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025 a seminar in Glasgow heard yesterday. The seminar, 'Key Changes, Implications and Next Steps' of the Act, and was held at the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow

Will Cole surveys recent irritancy cases in the wake of a new judgment. In Scotland, commercial tenants who breach their lease obligations may find their leases terminated by “irritancy”. Since the 1980s, the lease provisions in question have been rendered less draconian by provisions in

The Committee of Heads of Scottish Law Schools responds to an article in Scottish Legal News last year on the use of AI in their institutions. In early December 2025, Corsino San Miguel wrote an article for Scottish Legal News in which, drawing on selected examples from law firms and certain law sch

Although we consider the lone mass killer as a recent spawning of the 20th century in western society, as Professor Mullen’s research indicates, it was an established “piece of Eastern exotica” when pengamuk – individuals who committed mass public killing – were first

Employee ownership trusts (EOTs) and other alternative business structures (ABS) are playing an increasingly important role in business succession planning across the UK, writes Douglas Roberts. Nearly 2,500 businesses across the country are now employee owned, representing around 358,000 employee o

A sheriff conducting an inquiry into the death of a self-employed gardener who died after being struck by falling timber has concluded that his death could have been avoided if the drop zone into which timber was expected to fall had been more clearly identified and there was a clear means of commun

How do acute political tensions, resolved in national politics, influence local conditions? The deciding factors in decisions at each level may vary even for those who think the same. The Stalinist view was simple: ‘all decisions are taken at the centre, and once a decision has been taken all

Similarities between the arenas of law and professional football are not perhaps instantly discernible – but they nonetheless share some characteristics. Such as anticipating creative moves by the other side and adapting one’s strategy under pressure, while working effectively as part of