Features

Nicola Sturgeon has made her grand gambit, presenting a draft bill to the Scottish Parliament to hold a referendum on Scottish independence on October 19, 2023. The draft contained the referendum question, established the modalities for the poll, and even provided for the font of the print on the ba

On 1 June 2022, two changes came into force in Scotland which change the law around when claims expire under a construction contract. The general starting point is the same – if a claim has not been raised within five-years of the loss, injury or damage occurring then (unless one of the except

The UK government’s Business Energy and industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee is running an inquiry into the UK labour market “post-pandemic”. Part of its remit is seeking to understand whether current employment law is fit for purpose or requires reform. This is interesting because

Last month was a particularly busy period in the Buy-Now Pay-Later (BNPL) sector. On 1 June, Klarna, one of the largest BNPL providers, began reporting its customer data to credit reference agencies in the UK for the popular short-term credit products such as Pay in 3 instalments and Pay in 30 days.

The sun is shining in the Highlands (well, at least it has been intermittently) and farmers are busy making hay and silage. When long grass fields are cut, they often attract walkers and horse riders who fancy taking access across the nice open fields – is it okay for them to do so? In Scotlan

With Scotland’s constitutional issue set to take centre stage once again, many will be fearful that division and rancour may follow. Back in 2014 and in subsequent years, the debate has often generated more heat than light. Arguably, the 2016 Brexit referendum was even more acrimonious.

With our separate legal systems, the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) regime does not operate in Scotland, and as a result civil recovery remains the only option short of prosecution for Scottish prosecutors to resolve bribery cases. In contrast, in England and Wales, DPAs have effectively displ

An­drew Walker, partner and head of corporate growth at Morton Fraser, discusses the role employee businesses could have in boosting the wider UK economy. The Scottish government’s Programme for Government included a goal to reach 500 employee-owned businesses (EOBs) by 2030. We currently

Solicitor Fiona McPhail writes about the case of Abdelwahab-Kaba Dafaalla v City of Edinburgh Council, which concerned the issue of repeat or subsequent homeless applications where a local authority has already considered an application and acted upon the outcome of that application. In Mr Dafaalla&

Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle has offered his thoughts on the future of the justice system in a new era of technology following the Covid-19 pandemic. In an interview with the Judicial Office for Scotland following his recent succession to senior sheriff principal, the 69-year-old spoke of his experi

Clerk of Faculty, Richard Pugh, details how the Faculty of Advocates encourages those aspiring to a career at the bar. The Faculty of Advocates recently admitted 28 new members, the second-largest ever annual intake. This follows another large intake in 2020, when 24 new advocates were admitted.

As the cost-of-living crisis puts pressure on pay negotiations, employers need to take care to ensure collective bargaining procedures are not inappropriately circumvented, writes Innes Clark. Late last year the Supreme Court judgment in Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley and others made clear that direct

David J Black looks at how the Golden Turd plopped onto Edinburgh's skyline. Read part one here. It is true that every judgement as to what constitutes good or bad architecture is subjective, yet searching around Edinburgh to find someone who likes the Golden Turd Hotel is a fruitless task. The Scot

Recent council motions may be well meaning but they are at odds with licensing, writes Stephen McGowan. Every now and again a local councillor or even a full council proposes or approves a motion which relates to the operation of licensed premises. This has happened recently, on 24th June 2022, with

The Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 which came into force on 1st December 2017 replaced the previous short assured tenancy with the residential tenancy. The stated purpose of the Scottish government was “to improve security of tenure for tenants balanced with appropriate safegu