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The UK government is planning a major shake-up of the asylum appeals system in a bid to reduce the number of migrants being housed in hotels while they await rulings. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she would establish a new body staffed by independent adjudicators to address what she called &ldqu

Tens of thousands of offenders in England and Wales, including sex offenders, shoplifters, drug dealers and violent criminals, will avoid prison under sweeping sentencing reforms to be put before Parliament next month. The Sentencing Bill will require judges to presume against custodial sentences of

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC has dramatically increased the number of appeals against sentences judged to be too soft. Figures obtained by The Sunday Times show a 500 per cent rise over the past decade in appeals brought by the lord advocate on the grounds that sentences were unduly lenient.

The Crown Office has lodged a first notice to begin the court process for a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the death of 57-year-old Francis Docherty. He died on 23 January 2022 within HMP Perth.

Six new homes could be built in Haddington using money left to the town by a lawyer more than 80 years ago. John Richardson, a solicitor who also served as Musselburgh town clerk, died in 1940 and directed that part of his estate should fund cottages for “deserving” people in his home to

Wendy McLaughlin, a senior workplace coordinator at Shoosmiths in Glasgow, has been practising hard for a special Strictly Come Dancing-style dance-off to be held in Glasgow in aid of the Beatson Cancer Charity on 11 October. Ms McLaughlin, who joined Shoosmiths in 2021, is one of a six-strong team

A judge has blocked a Texas law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in schools. Texas' Senate Bill 10 was due to take effect on 1 September and was introduced in the wake of similar legislation in Louisiana, which has also been subject to legal challenge.

Paul Weller, musician and former frontman of The Jam and the Style Council, has launched legal action against his former accountants after they resigned because he publicly accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. Mr Weller was a client of Leigh Genis of Harris and Trotter LLP for more than 30 years, unt

New routes to qualifying as a solicitor in Northern Ireland are set to be introduced in a bid to make the profession more accessible, inclusive and future-focused. The Law Society of Northern Ireland this week published the findings of a consultation it undertook between December 2024 and March 2025

Addleshaw Goddard (AG), which has offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, has posted record financial performance for the 12 months to 30 April 2025, with an eighth consecutive year of revenue and profit growth. Total revenues at the firm were up 11 per cent from £495.6 million to £5

A teenager who prepared to commit racially motivated acts of terrorism after being radicalised online has been sentenced to a total of 10 years' detention and eight years' extended licence period. The 17-year-old had planned to set fire to a Muslim centre in Greenock after befriending the Imam and m

A litigant in person has been criticised by a judge for relying on an AI chatbot that fabricated three legal precedents in a tax dispute. Marc Gunnarsson appealed after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) sought to reclaim £12,918 in coronavirus self-employment support payments he had received. Repr

A group of tartan-clad legal professionals hit the streets to support a children’s charity.

The Trump administration has imposed new sanctions on two judges and two deputy prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Canadian judge Kimberly Prost, French judge Nicolas Guillou and deputy prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan, from Fiji, and Mame Mandiaye Niang, from Senegal, are the lat

A German neo-Nazi will begin serving an 18-month sentence in a women’s prison after using new gender recognition laws to register as a woman. Marla-Svenja Liebich, formerly, Sven Liebich, a far-right activist photographed at rallies in Nazi-style uniforms and armbands, was sentenced in July 20