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A former Aberdeen lawyer has been struck off the roll of solicitors for committing numerous breaches. Ian James McDougall, who had run his own firm of McDougall & Co, was suspended in June 2015 and was sequestrated in November of that year.

Recorded crime in Scotland has seen a slight increase in the past year but is still at its second lowest level in more than 40 years. There were 244,504 crimes recorded by the police in Scotland in 2017-18. This is the second lowest level of recorded crime since 1974.

The recent English case of Williams Tarr Construction Limited v Anthony Roylance Limited and Anthony Roylance [2018] EWHC 23 highlights the importance of taking time at the commencement of a project to set out the basis on which parties intend to contract with each other, write David Arnott and Sara

The High Court in Belfast has begun hearing three test cases for damages brought on behalf of people who were shot or wounded on Bloody Sunday. Three of 21 civil actions brought by Madden & Finucane Solicitors against the Ministry of Defence were selected as test writs and are being heard now.

Anderson Strathern has paid tribute to Investors in People (IIP), the former government-owned body now run as a not-for-profit, as the firm marks twenty years as an Investors in People-accredited organisation. The firm was the first in the Scottish legal sector to gain Gold for both IIP (2011) and Y

Four Scottish law schools have ranked in the top 10 in this year's Times Good University Guide. This year saw Cambridge University take pole position, followed by Oxford and London's UCL and LSE in third and fourth respectively.

Ethiopian authorities have been condemned for their arbitrary arrest of almost 3,000 young people over the weekend. Responding to a statement by Addis Ababa’s police commissioner Major General Degefe Bede that nearly 3,000 youths were arrested in the capital and that 174 would be charged

A journalist who was sentenced to 5,000 years in prison for failing to pay libel damages amounting to £1.2 million has reflected on the state of the profession in Africa. Rodney D Sieh, editor of Liberia's FrontPageAfrica, had run a story that cast doubt on a government audit, finding $6m unac

Edinburgh Law School's Professor Drew Scott has been awarded the UACES Lifetime Achievement Award. The University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) presented its 2018 Lifetime Achievement award to Professor Scott earlier this month, commending "the quality and versatility of [his

Authorities have seized nearly £14 million worth of cocaine that was hidden among bananas donated to a prison. Around 540 packages of cocaine were found among the 45 boxes which were donated because they were "already ripe".

Holyrood’s Justice Committee has called for the swift introduction of legal apprenticeships in order to widen access to the profession. The committee said schools, universities and the Law Society of Scotland should consider what barriers exist to becoming a lawyer and to take action to r

The Lord President, Lord Carloway, has urged the cream of Scotland’s legal profession to consider a career on the bench. In an address at the Opening of the Legal Year 2018-19, Lord Carloway said he continued to have concerns about the reluctance of many of the best practitioners to consider a

Professor James Chalmers and Professor Fiona Leverick have endorsed a rule that would see child witnesses give all their evidence in the most serious criminal cases in advance of trial and described as "unfounded" worries that video evidence may disadvantage either the accused or the complainer

A memorial service will be held on Saturday 13 October 2018, at 11am, in the Canongate Kirk, 153 Canongate, Edinburgh, to honour the life and work of Professor Joe Thomson, who passed away earlier this year. All are welcome to attend. Professor Thomson, formerly a Scottish law commissioner, Regius P