News

Eilidh Wiseman Following the news that the Scottish government has issued a consultation paper in which possible increases of 24 per cent are mooted in an effort to recover the cost to the public of providing the services of the courts, the president of the Law Society of Scotland has expressed conc

Fraser Oliver Digby Brown will use a £5 million debt facility from HSBC to invest in a significant review and upgrade of its current systems and infrastructure as well as further invest in its staff and sector leading marketing.

The main national issue of concern to people across Scotland is the threat of terrorism, followed by violent crime, according to the first results from Police Scotland's new online survey, 'Your View Counts'. The survey has now been live for three months and was completed by more than 10,000 people

The Gambling Commission has imposed a financial penalty of £300,000 on Camelot, the operator of the National Lottery. This follows the publication of inaccurate Lotto Millionaire Raffle results on the National Lottery website for an hour and over 100,000 people viewing them. The error occurred on 1

The final report of Lord Justice Briggs’ Civil Courts Structure Review has been published, including a section on the proposed online court. Lord Justice Briggs has given his backing to the pilot online court scheme, which could results in tens of thousands of cases being dealt with annually onlin

A golf club which sued the suppliers of an electric trolley after a “Motocaddy” caught fire and caused extensive damage to a clubhouse has had an action for more than £500,000 damages refused following an appeal. Judges in the Inner House of the Court of Session upheld a decision of the Lord Or

The question whether enhanced protection depends on a right of permanent residence has been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union by the Supreme Court in a case in which the Home Secretary tried to deport an Italian national following completion of his sentence for manslaughter. Lor

Gordon Jackson QC The Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Gordon Jackson QC, has sounded a note of concern about access to justice in light of proposed increases in civil court fees.

Lady Smith A senior judge, the Right Honourable Lady Smith will lead Scotland’s independent public inquiry into the abuse of children in care from August, following the resignation of Susan O'Brien QC earlier this month.

Harriet Harman The UK government should reconsider its counter extremism strategy, use the existing extensive legal framework for dealing with people who promote violence, and introduce new legislation only if it can demonstrate a significant gap, according to a new report by the Joint Committee on

Kenny Crawford The volume of residential property sales rose 4.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2016-17 (April-June) compared to the same period last year, according to official statistics published today by Registers of Scotland (RoS). A total of 25,760 properties changed hands between April and

A defence lawyer has called on a sheriff whose brother is a Labour MSP to recuse himself in a case involving former shadow chancellor Ed Balls, suggesting a conflict of interest. But Sheriff Tony Kelly declined to recuse himself after John Flanagan made a motion on the basis of a conflict of interes

Alan McIntosh Alan McIntosh of Govan Law Centre writes about the different ways PPI claims and protected trust deeds are dealt with in court.

The article 3 and 5 rights of a Kyrgyz national detained in Russia for more than a year and threatened with extradition were violated, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. The applicant, Mr U.N., is a Kyrgyzstan national who was born in 1991 and lives in Vladivostok in Russia. The case conc

After more than four centuries, a book that once belonged to Scots poet Alexander Hume has returned home to the University of St Andrews. Dating from 1548, the rare legal manuscript described by scholars as “Scotland’s first great law book” was gifted to Hume by his maternal uncle, Alexander H