News

Dog owners in the Swiss town of Chiasso will soon be required to clean up their pets' urine as well as their faeces under what is believed to be the country's first rule of its kind. From mid-August, owners must carry a bottle of water to dilute urine left in public places. First-time offenders will

A construction company has been fined after a large number of bats were killed as a result of building work at a sheltered housing bungalow. The property’s tenant was admitted to hospital with bite wounds after more than 150 bats flew into his living quarters and bedroom from the house’s

Mitchells Roberton has strengthened its private client offering with the appointment of Derek Hanlan as tax director. A law graduate of the University of Glasgow and member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), Mr Hanlan also serves on its Scottish Technical Sub-Committee, contributing to t

Thorntons has been ranked among the top private wealth advisers in Scotland in the 2026 Chambers High Net Worth Guide. The firm gained two new team rankings and an upgraded rating for its offices in Dundee and the surrounding areas, alongside individual recognition for four private client partners,

The inaugural Sir Alexander Stone Lecture lecture at the University of Glasgow will be delivered by Professor Irene-marie Esser on 8 October, with a response given by Lord Braid. Professor Esser was appointed to the Sir Alexander Stone chair in commercial law last year and will be hosting an annual

With just seven weeks until the 2026 Scottish legal Awards, anticipation is building as Scotland’s legal profession prepares to come together for one of the most prestigious evenings in the legal calendar.

A coalition of human rights and environmental organisations has accused oil giant Shell of failing to address decades of pollution in Nigeria’s Niger Delta after analysing internal company documents that it says reveal concerns over ageing infrastructure, weak oversight and the potential cost

A domestic abuser who deliberately started a fire at his former partner's home leaving her and a five-year-old child trapped inside has been jailed for seven years. Craig Higgs set fire to a barbecue, a bag of coals and other items in the communal stairwell of a property in Musselburgh, East Lothian

In Mother Russia, victim compensates you. Russian lawmakers have said Moscow will seek compensation from European countries over damage caused by the war it started in Ukraine.

A former Reform UK council candidate is suing CMS for £400,000 after he was dismissed over a series of controversial social media posts, including one stating: "I hate Islam." Dan Cooper, formerly a senior HR business partner at the firm, was dismissed in March 2025 after CMS became aware of p

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has agreed to pay up to $5.5 billion to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging that its talc-based baby powder and other products caused ovarian cancer. The proposed settlement would resolve around 76,000 cases, covering most of the remaining talc-related claim

Four solicitors have stepped up to join the ranks of solicitor advocates with extended rights of audience in Scotland’s highest civil court. The newly appointed solicitor advocates are:

The Scottish Civil Justice Council’s proposal to widen the scope of group proceedings to include ‘opt-out’ claims has received strong backing from the Scottish public, a new survey shows. New polling commissioned by English law firm Hausfeld & Co LLP demonstrates wide support f

With under two weeks remaining until the first Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax submission deadline, new research from Bank of Scotland suggests that two-thirds (65 per cent) of small businesses in Scotland still have work to do before they are ready to comply with the new rules, compared wi

A man who abducted a teenage girl at knifepoint before raping her in a basement has been given an order for lifelong restriction with five years before parole. Aaron Strachan, now 21, approached the 15-year-old girl as she waited at a bus stop in Edinburgh city centre in the early hours of 25 May 20