Features

Ronnie Clancy KC defends the Lockerbie investigation against claims its famous conviction was a miscarriage of justice. Twenty-four years have elapsed since the conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi for his part in the murderous conspiracy which caused the death of 270 innocent people on 21

John Hill Burton was an advocate from 1831 and he became a significant figure in nineteenth century Scottish thought. His contribution is reassessed in this impressive study by an independent scholar. Burton’s practice may not have amounted to much, and in 1854 he was appointed secretary to th

Neil Stevenson comments on an appeal to the Inner House in which judges clarified the meaning of 'complaint'. In its decision, the court has clarified that a 'complaint’ is the whole complaint made by the complainer, but also that for some sections of the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotla

“Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears”. Surely some mistake, I thought; shouldn’t it be the other way round? Swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning-hooks? It was during Evensong at the magnificent Liverpool Cathedral last month that this

Word reaches your scrivener that a well regarded seasoned journalist by the name of Claire Atkinson is engaged in writing an unauthorised biography of the old boss we both used to share, namely one Rupert Murdoch. But will she cover everything? Fans of the brilliant, yet chilling, HBO series Success

The study of crime in a specific area is hardly a new idea: famously, Jack House wrote The Square Mile of Murder, which has its own Wikipedia page, about four classics of the genre in Glasgow. Neither is the study of crime in wartime a new idea, as can be seen in the bibliography to this new contrib

While commemorating Scottish lawyers who fell during the two World Wars, we reach a sad anniversary on Christmas Eve regarding the death of Major Ernest Alexander Maclagan Wedderburn (otherwise known as Sandy). Major Wedderburn died 80 years ago on 24 December 1944 as a result of a tragic accident.

Rod Maclean takes a look at a high-profile family squabble. Media business magnate Rupert Murdoch’s family’s public drama regarding ownership is perhaps the biggest family business law story of a generation. Beneath the glitz lies a classic archetype of succession squabbles. Families &nd

Dr Andrew Forde responds to the furore over Ireland's intention to intervene in cases brought against Israel and Myanmar under the Genocide Convention. On 11 December, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin announced Ireland’s intention to intervene in the

Ian Moir is well known in legal circles both as one half of Glasgow-based criminal law firm Moir & Sweeney Litigation and as the outspoken convener of the Law Society of Scotland’s Criminal Legal Aid Committee. He almost didn’t become a lawyer at all, though. Having been told while a

Dean of Faculty Roddy Dunlop KC reminds us that there is a presumption of innocence – for now. The age of social media has brought many benefits. Members of the public are able to engage with a number of issues – from the banal to the fundamental – in a way that was not previously

The "story of law’s reasonable person" is one that has "many beginnings and no end", according to Professor Valentin Jeutner, of Lund University, Sweden. Identifying the concept of such a person is not an easy task, given, as the professor discovered, there are over 250 statutes and 10,000 cou

David J Black tackles the issue of the day. One of the more annoying things about the British media in general, and the navel-gazing BBC in particular, is the irritating habit they all have of prioritising so-called news stories which are so trivial and ephemeral they barely deserve to make the insi

Irish lawyer Dr Barry Scannell examines a recent trademark case in which ChatGPT represented one of the parties. Good idea: Getting a well-trained lawyer to represent you in a trademark dispute. Bad idea: Having ChatGPT represent you in a trademark dispute.

A new “failure to prevent fraud” offence will impact organisations across the UK and internationally, requiring them to complete risk assessments and implement rigorous fraud prevention procedures and policies in place if they are to avail themselves of a statutory defence, writes Tom St