News

A majority of Scots believe councils should do more to enforce laws which protect the safety of tenants in the private rented sector (PRS), according to a new poll commissioned by the Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL). The survey found that 69 per cent of Scottish people believe councils shoul

Hannah Currie

Michael Matheson Addressing the issue of hate crime should be a priority for the whole of society, according to a new report that calls for better data collection on incidents and an approach that is based on prevention and education.

Andy Wightman MSP Andy Wightman MSP, land reform spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, has welcomed confirmation that the Scottish Law Commission will consider the repeal of an archaic piece of legislation which allowed landowners to divide and privatise vast swathes of common land.

A man found guilty of a knifepoint robbery who also allegedly threatened to assault his defence counsel has lost an appeal against his conviction after claiming he did not receive a fair trial due to “defective representation”. Peter Boath, who was sentenced to nine years imprisonment for attack

The number of vulnerable children trafficked in Scotland has tripled since 2011. New figures also show that more than half of the 105 children trafficked in the past five years were Vietnamese.

David Bone Harper Macleod has advised on the financial close of a £78m investment in a Scottish windfarm.

Alan Turing An SNP MP is to move ahead with a bill that would see gay men who were convicted when homosexuality was a criminal offence pardoned.

Liam McArthur Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Liam McArthur has said confirmation that HMICS are set to investigate the actions of undercover police officers in Scotland is nothing less than required.

A solicitor in Angus has called for electric shock collars used on dogs to be banned after a “cursed” St Bernard was saved from death, The Courier reports. Nick Whelan said the Scottish government should ban the “barbaric” devices which deliver shocks for bad behaviour.

Gordon Jackson QC The Faculty of Advocates has been helping to fly the flag for Scotland at the conference of the International Bar Association (IBA) in Washington DC.

The English bar’s regulatory board has issued a list of competences that the 15,000 barristers in England and Wales should be meeting on a day-to-day basis, including speaking audibly and using “correct … grammar, spelling and punctuation”.

The Faculty of Advocates’ Criminal Appeal Service has taken on a new member of staff, Rachael Williamson, as its legal secretary. She joins Jacob Cohen, paralegal, at the hub of the service which was founded in January 2014 as a “one-stop shop” for solicitors.