Features

My previous two opinion pieces about the damaging delay to Scottish gender recognition reform, and the media’s portrayal of it, were underpinned factually by the relevant parts of the Equality Act. Given the ongoing widescale coverage of gender recognition reform, and trans rights, it might be

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said her government would “carefully consider” the issues raised by more than 100 businesses after publication of an open letter on a proposed ban on alcohol advertising. Industry big hitters including BrewDog, Diageo, Whyte & Mackay and Tennents di

The Scottish government’s current consultation on restrictions around alcohol advertising and sponsorship has attracted considerable attention. I have myself described it as a “prohibitionists charter”. The consultation was launched on 17 November 2022 and closes on 9 March 2023. I

In her piece on media coverage of the Scottish government’s proposed gender-recognition reform  (1 February 2023), Gwyneth King criticises those who have pointed out that women’s organisations which signed a statement in support of the Scottish government’s policy are recipien

Louise Shiels discusses an English case in which the First Tier Tribunal Property Chamber issued what is likely to be the first remediation contribution order under section 124 of the Building Safety Act 2022. The application was made by 18 leaseholders of a high-rise self-contained block of fl

I recently caught a very spirited radio discussion on the question of whether the Welsh Rugby Union should have banned its fans from singing the Tom Jones standard Delilah at matches. Welsh Women’s Aid took some credit for the decision having argued for years that the lyrics to the song could

Douglas Milne highlights a recent case in the Court of Session which considered the application of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations. An important part of the process for consenting to a development which is likely to have significant effects on the environment is Environmental Impact

In October 2021 the Scottish government published its Space Strategy setting out Scotland’s ambition to become Europe’s leading space nation, writes Jamie Watt. Committing to the delivery of a dedicated launch capability by summer 2023, and with five spaceports in development across the

Walk through any city or major town and you will inevitably pass numerous big, shiny, new buildings and office blocks. Pre-pandemic there seemed to be a race among big firms to offer their employees almost palatial surroundings in which to carry out the day to day of their job. While there has been

Deborah Clark, ICO upstream regulation manager, provides details of new FOI resources at the Information Commissioner's Office. We’ve been working hard, following the commitments made in our ICO25 plan, to make improvements to our freedom of information (FOI) services. We want to enhance the e

Ken Carruthers considers the proposed changes to the termination of commercial leases in Scotland. The Scottish Law Commission (SLC), the body in Scotland charged with proposing legal reform, has recently published a report making a number of important recommendations concerning the termination of l

Since I previously wrote about the damaging delay to Scottish gender recognition reform caused by Westminster vetoing Holyrood’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, there have been two further disquieting developments that I feel compelled to respond to, as a lawyer working to uphold th

The Scottish government's recent changes to the emergency rent freeze legislation have improved the position of private landlords but have also caused an imbalance in the rental market and raised questions about the government's long-term vision for the sector, writes Marcus Di Rollo. Private landlo

Richard McMeeken considers the scope of director's discretion and how this has been dealt with by the courts. The duties incumbent on company directors are much talked about at the moment following the Supreme Court's judgment in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA and others [2022] UKSC 25 clarifying the exi

Death and taxes are inevitable, and following the former kindly obituaries may and often do follow but a recitation of platitudes was not always certain in earlier times, writes Robert Shiels. The death of Sir Archibald Alison in 1867 produced an obituary that must, surely, be seen as being not