News

A man accused of "butchering" a tree near his property has been ordered to pay £21,000 under proceeds of crime legislation. Samuel Wilson, 40, added £21,000 to the value of his home by illegally chopping back a tree that was subject to a preservation order, The Times reports.

Indefinite immigration detention should be brought to an end and there should be greater judicial oversight of the system as the Home Office has demonstrated a "shockingly cavalier" attitude in its approach to immigration detention and has overseen serious failings in almost every area of the i

The Scottish government's consultation on Scottish charity law has too limited a scope and represents a missed opportunity for meaningful reform according to audit, tax and consulting firm RSM. In its response to the consultation which closes on 1 April, RSM highlighted that a broader review would h

Tom Stocker contrasts English DPAs and the Scottish civil settlement regime in the context of a parliamentary inquiry into bribery legislation, at which he himself gave evidence. The UK's 2010 Bribery Act has created "an international gold standard for anti-bribery and corruption legislation",

Blackkadders scored a double awards whammy last night after picking up two top titles at the Scottish Legal Awards.

Counter-fraud specialist Jill Sinclair was named Scotland’s lawyer of the year. Ms Sinclair, 37, heads up the counter-fraud operation for DWF north of the border and advises its insurance clients across the UK.

Aspiring advocates will have a chance to see life at the Scottish bar when the Faculty of Advocates holds an Open Day for S5 and S6 school pupils and university students. The day to note is Monday 6 May, but with demand for places likely to be high, another important date is Wednesday 24 April, the

A University of Aberdeen law graduate has become a qualified insolvency practitioner after passing two sets of rigorous exams. Sarah Bedford, a senior insolvency services supervisor at Aberdeen-based chartered accountancy firm Meston Reid & Co, passed the UK Joint Insolvency

A far-right politician opposed to compulsory vaccination of children has contracted chicken pox. Massimiliano Fedriga, a member of Italy's League party, has been placed under observation, La Repubblica reports.

In many of his works Sir Walter Scott referred to real cases and described real criminal court room procedure, drawing on his legal training and experience as an advocate. He once wrote: His library at Abbotsford contains a copy of the trial of Philip Standsfield. An entry dated March 1797 in his pr

A Scottish local authority which sued engineering contractors over a failed social housing development that had to be demolished for health and safety reasons has had its £12 million damages claim dismissed. Midlothian Council raised an action against Blyth & Blyth Consulting Eng

At the High Court in Glasgow today, Lord Matthews sentenced 16-year-old Aaron Campbell to detention without limit of time, with a punishment part of 27 years, after he was found guilty of the abduction, rape and murder of Alesha MacPhail. On sentencing, Lord Matthews said: "It is difficult to i

A judge-led review group is to consider what distinguishes sexual assault cases from other criminal cases and how court process and the experiences of complainers and witnesses can be improved – without compromising the rights of the accused. The review group, chaired by Lady Dorrian, the Lord

The personal service company of broadcaster Lorraine Kelly has won a First-Tier Tribunal appeal against a £1.2m demand from HMRC for unpaid income tax and National Insurance Contributions after a judge accepted that there was a contract for services between her and ITV – partly on t

The European Commission has imposed a €1.49 billion fine on search giant Google for breaching EU antitrust rules. In a decision yesterday, the Commission found that Google had abused its dominant position in the online search advertising intermediation market by imposing restrictive clauses in