Features

The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill has reached an advanced stage at Holyrood and the Scottish Law Agents Society welcomes many of the changes made to it. For the five reasons set out below, however, it is extremely concerned about the review provisions.

David J Black discerns traces of Scotland in America. See part one here. Alasdair Gray was the quintessential Glasgow author. The city is imprinted on his text, albeit with a hint of his idiosyncratic urban metaphysic. With a grid street plan and a wise-cracking populace well seasoned with the desce

George Craig (1783-1843) made his living as a lawyer, banker and land agent, through judging the character and credit of others, and he was immersed in the local community. He had a social conscience through his dealings with the parish poor, and he was also the treasurer of the Galashiels Savings B

Choices, choices, always choices. On February 25th it was between an event in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall marking the third anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, or a ‘Gray Day’ in Glasgow’s Oran Mohr marking the 90th anniversary of the birth of the Scotland&r

In a bid to speed up the global pace of achieving gender equality, this year’s theme for International Women’s Day (IWD) is ‘Accelerate Action’, write Emma Brown and Megan McNicoll. Part of the campaign is encouraging individuals to step forward in solidarity and "strike the

Brian Jenkins is the latest writer to consider Madeleine Smith, who, he opines, was in many respects a less than appealing figure, although she has never wanted for biographers. A brief glance at a few bibliographies suggests that this is the 23rd book on the case, as well as many dedicated chapters

During the annual meeting of the Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow in 1954, the Dean, Sir Spencer Muirhead, made the observation that the Faculty's officer was the only one present at Queen Elizabeth's Coronation who was not carrying a ceremonial staff or mace.  Recognising the importance of su

As AI develops further and is used more and more by professionals, there are questions over the extent of its use and if it can entirely replace some roles, or if it should instead be limited to assisting human expertise only. One such example of this is mediation, writes Nicole Kelly. Mediation is

Graham Johnston and Elizabeth McFarlane reflect on 25 years of the Family Court in Glasgow.  The introduction of divorce into the Sheriff Court in 1984 had a dramatic effect on the number of ordinary civil cases in the court. The sudden inflow of divorce cases (something in the region of 13,000

Elise Marshall considers a recent case from Singapore and how it might have been affected by AI.  The term “artificial intelligence” (AI) can be used to refer to advanced computer systems that perform tasks requiring human intelligence, such as problem-solving, pattern recognition,

Ewan Kennedy explores the connections between our national bard and our other national language. In Ayrshire, Gaelic had already largely died out before Burns was born in 1759. His Jacobite father had North East ancestry and didn’t have the language. While the Ayrshire Scots that Burns spoke i

From the Second World War the dynamics of the vast overseas empire of the United Kingdom began to change, although certain former colonies had gained significant powers before then. The end of the empire, in the sense of complete political and legal independence, came about very quickly in the late

New moveable property reforms are due to come into force in Scotland in April, brought about in response to widespread concerns that the current legal framework was outdated and inhibited economic growth, writes Ahsan Mustafa. The Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Act 2023 was enacted on 13 June

Statue of Burns in Dumfries town centre, unveiled in 1882. David J Black reminds us just how famous Burns was. See part one here.

Dorothy Parker was celebrated in her time as a poet, a critic and a writer. Above all, she is cherished today for her acerbic wit. But she is less well-known for her Hollywood screenwriting career which spanned three tumultuous decades. Parker detested Hollywood from the very start – despising