Features

With a projected £50 billion shortfall in public finances and a pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, speculation is mounting that Chancellor Rachel Reeves may turn again to Inheritance Tax (IHT) reform when she makes her autumn budget statement on 26 November, writes Emma

Kate Bradbury reflects on the Scots family law bible as it turns 40. Built to last… and that it was. 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985. To this day, it remains the legislative bible for Scottish family law practitioners advising clients on separation and di

In the first of four interviews undertaken by SEMLA for Black History Month we spotlight Harper Macleod trainee Arnold Masayila. Can you tell us a little about your journey into law and what inspired you to pursue it?

With the UK government’s consultation on mandating major companies and financial services firms to develop and implement climate transition plans now closed, the spotlight is turning not just on corporate strategy, but on their legal responsibilities. By 2023, more than 70 per cent of FTSE 100

For over 25 years, John Sweetman worked as a detective garda attached to the Technical Bureau in police headquarters, Dublin. He qualified as a fingerprint expert and later as a security document and handwriting expert. He spent much of his time examining crime scenes, and later scenes of crime exhi

The Scottish legal market stands at a crossroads. Earlier this year, the Scottish Parliament passed the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025, a landmark piece of legislation that promised to reshape the profession. Most significantly, it repealed section 49 of the Legal Services (Scotlan

Travel writing, as a literary genre has many guises. The Fodors, Rough Guides, and Baedekers are on-the-hoof advisories. My 1912 Egyptian edition of the latter, for example, advised not shaving on the Nile for fear of your steamer striking a sandbank. James (later Jan) Morris’s 1960 classic on

If you've ever passed by the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow building and looked up, you may have noticed something carved into the stonework – a figure surrounded by a tree, a bird, a bell, and a fish.

It was unsurprising that the announcement of the winner of a Scottish literary award earlier this month received media attention. What was rather more noteworthy about this event was that it was reported in Scottish Legal News. The recipient of the McIlvanney Prize (named in memory of the late Willi

The English legal press had their knives out for the Law Society of Scotland this past week. This was on the back of its announcement of a deferral of at least a further two years (to add to the existing 15 years since the introduction of the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010) in bringing about alt

“Mediation is no-one’s little brother. Mediation is not alternative dispute resolution. It is not the easy option. Mediation is how the most intractable issues can be resolved.” The words I quote above are those of leading New Zealand mediator, Mark Kelly. Kelly has done mediation

This book presents an extensive analysis of the judgments delivered in the UK Supreme Court during its first 10 years (2009-2019). Detailed statistical data is provided of how each of the justices voted in a range of different contexts, including cases involving the state, socio-economic underdogs,

Justice Secretary Angela Constance has said the 'not proven' verdict, which is to be abolished, is "widely misunderstood". Thomas Ross KC demonstrates that indeed it is, especially by her.  Haggis, square sausage and the 'not proven' verdict – cultural appropriation being what it is &ndas

The optics are never good where bearing a placard or the wearing a T-shirt leads to an arrest, especially where the miscreant is a retired vicar, an old lady or a blind man in a wheelchair protesting about a matter of public concern, such as the ethics of abortion or the killing of defenceless child

Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) has handed down its first ever sentence, convicting seven former leaders of the FARC guerrilla movement of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The judgment is part of the country’s transitional justice process set up after the 2016 peac