Features

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into force in Scotland in April, brought about in response to widespread concerns that the current legal framework was outdated and inhibited economic growth, writes Ahsan Mustafa.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

Liam McKay explains why the Scottish construction sector may be less affected by a ruling south of the Border. A recent decision by the High Court of England and Wales regarding construction contracts may not hold true in Scotland.

Musing over the haggis, coaxed down with a friendly single malt, David J Black shares his thoughts on why it is that so many Scots have a bizarre love-hate relationship with that man from Ayrshire. Robert Burns is, by a long way, the most celebrated poet in the world. His January 25 birthday feast i

Tenants and landlords alike may be interested in the Leases (Automatic Continuation etc.) (Scotland) Bill, introduced to the Scottish Parliament last month, write Donna Strong and David Bryden. The aim of this proposed new legislation is to "improve, simplify and update" aspects of the law of commer

Employment law claims in the UK are on the rise, and both organisations and tribunals are finding it challenging to cope with the growing volume of cases, write Elouisa Crichton and Amy Ross-Sercombe. Ministry of Justice figures show that whistleblowing claims – where individuals say they were

The idea of the public interest and the desirability of a fatal accident inquiry developed and appeared in new law at the end of the 19th century. Heavy industrial occupations, and other sorts of similar manual work with inherent dangers might have been thought to be the basis of attention for the l

Autocracy, Inc is a small book, with a dark paper cover, that sets out in disturbing detail the attacks, overt and covert, by autocrats everywhere on liberal democracies and open societies. The concept of autocracy is where one person governs with all the power, and that is defined by the author as

Last November was another significant point in Jen Paton’s career trajectory. The Edinburgh-based legal director in Shoosmiths’ corporate division had been named Corporate Rising Star of the Year at the influential Legal 500 Scotland Awards held in the city. For Ms Paton it was an opport

Richard McMeeken and Robin Mackintosh discuss an important new delict case. On 28 January 2025, Lord Clark issued his opinion in Biffa Waste Services Limited v Scottish Ministers. Biffa contends that the Scottish government owed it (and failed to uphold) a duty of care in respect of its positio

I read with interest the article on the Scottish Law Agents Society survey run by Darren Murdoch. I will not be responding as I have not been in practice for almost 30 years – an era when regulation was a very different thing – and came off the roll over a decade ago. No locus? No skin i

John Sturrock KC explains how Scotland's outgoing senior judges were instrumental in the creation of the Faculty’s training programme three decades ago. This week marks the retirement of Scotland’s two most senior judges, Lord Carloway, the Lord President, and Lady Dorrian, the Lord Just