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Poland has reinstated the 27 Supreme Court judges who were forced to retire under controversial judicial reforms opposed by the European Commission. Legislation reversing the change in the judicial retirement age was signed into law by President Andrzej Duda yesterday after the European Court of Jus

Sheriff Ross Macfarlane QC, artistic director of the Faculty of Advocates choir, writes on the humble beginnings of its annual Christmas carol charity fundraiser. It all started so innocently… November 1996: I was a fairly new advocate and having a cup of tea in the advocates’ reading r

The number of tenancy deposit cases now being heard by the Scottish First-tier Tribunal indicate a similar specialist court in England would have to deal with up to 1,200 deposit protection cases each year, according to the chair of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS). Last month the UK Government laun

Furious parents branded a Christmas grotto Santa Claus a "disgrace" after he ripped off his beard and swore at children. According to reports, the angry St Nick lost his temper after the fire alarm was triggered by a children's rave in the same building.

A man found guilty of attacking another man with a meat cleaver, who claimed that a sheriff was wrong to allow CCTV footage to be introduced as evidence after its existence only became apparent during the trial, has had an appeal against his conviction refused. Jamie Hyslop argued that the material

Anderson Strathern has announced a six per cent increase in turnover to £22.8 million and a 10 per cent rise in profits in the year ending 31 August 2018. The firm said client wins, panel appointments and increased activity across the private client, commercial and public sector practice group

The Scottish government has launched a consultation on allowing certain prisoners to vote in Scottish Parliament and local government elections. The move comes after Holyrood's equalities and human rights committee advocated an end to the UK's blanket ban on prisoner voting.

The UK government has announced a new package of workplace reforms it calls the "largest upgrade in workers' rights in over a generation". The announcement takes forward 51 of the 53 recommendations made last summer by the Taylor Review, led by Matthew Taylor, CEO of the Royal Society of Arts and fo

David Buchanan-Cook, head of strategic insight at the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC), writes on stress for lawyers at Christmas-time. Christmas is often an unintended bearer of stress. It’s that time of year when otherwise innocuous factors can collide and accumulate to create a s

Tony McGlennan, legal director at Addleshaw Goddard, writes on a new crackdown on nuisance phone calls. The frustrating feeling of your day being interrupted by a nuisance sales call, or your inbox filling with spam emails is something with which most of us are all too familiar. Whether it’s P

Kate Fergusson, head of responsible business at Pinsent Masons, reflects on the international law firm's fundraising work in Scotland. This season of goodwill brings out the best in people and evidence is all around us when you consider the huge number of charitable initiatives which come to the for

The Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (PIRC) has found that police were justified in their use of a taser to arrest a man who they believed posed a threat to people inside his flat. The 32-year-old was incapacitated by an armed officer using the conductive energy device at the property

The Faculty of Advocates' choir is fine-tuning its festive songbook ahead of its traditional charity carol concert on Tuesday. As it has done for the last 22 years, the choir will perform all the seasonal favourites at its Christmas concert in aid of Edinburgh’s homeless.

Seosamh Gráinséir, writing for "Irish Legal Heritage" in our sister publication Irish Legal News, reflects on 'pitchcapping', a gruesome practice which may interest readers in Scotland. During the United Irishman Rebellion of 1798, one of the forms of torture used by the British on sus

A developer who tore down a historic San Francisco house has been ordered to build an exact replica - and install a plaque outside explaining what happened. Property speculators have made a game out of tearing down historically protected homes, then retroactively applying for demolition permits, and