News

The total cost to the taxpayer of legal assistance in Scotland was £138.6 million in 2014-15, a decrease of 8 per cent compared to the previous year according to the Scottish Legal Aid Board's (SLAB)annual report, published today . This £11.9m decrease is partly due to changes in the flow of crimi

Digby Brown has reported its financial results for the year ending March 2015. Revenues were £24.6 million, up from £23.4m in the previous year, a 5 per cent increase. Profit for the firm was £7.8m, compared to £9.0m in the previous year, which it said was the result of significant investment in

Harper Macleod has been appointed to act for Registers of Scotland (RoS) after winning a competitive tender under the new Scottish Central Government Framework. Registers of Scotland is the non-ministerial government department responsible for compiling and maintaining 17 public registers relating t

A group established to review the current financial support arrangements for those affected by infected NHS blood and blood products has recommended they receive more compensation. The set of proposals will be examined by the Scottish government as it recommends reforms to the help and support avail

The Scottish Budget for 2016-17, announced by John Swinney, contains a cut of a third in the Accountant in Bankruptcy budget. David Menzies examines how this will impact its services. The Scottish Government draft budget for 2016-17 has been announced by Finance Secretary John Swinney. While many of

Smoking in cars where children are present will now be a criminal offence, after legislation was passed by the Scottish Parliament. The Smoking Prohibition (Children in Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Bill was debated this week at stage 3 by MSPs. When the legislation comes into force, it will be a crimi

A new justice centre in Inverness which will offer digital and other justice services throughout the Highlands has been approved by the Scottish government. Details of investment in the new Inverness Justice Centre were unveiled within the Scottish budget.

Updated prison statistics for 2013-14 have been released today by Scotland’s chief statistician and include information on the Scottish prison population, including population by type of custody and establishment, characteristics of prisoners, receptions to/liberations from penal establishments an

Thousands of divorced couples may have to re-negotiate their financial settlements after a fault was discovered in the software that calculates their agreements. The error could lead to legal action being taken against the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) after it admitted the blunder as it can result in a

A life prisoner who claimed that it was “unreasonable and unlawful” to detain him in conditions in which he was being exposed to environmental tobacco smoke has had a petition for judicial review dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that while the petitioner’s situation was “unfo

Responding to the Scottish government’s draft budget for 2016-17, announced yesterday, Christine McLintock, president of the Law Society of Scotland said the budget set for legal aid – £126.1 million – is “clearly unrealistic” and risks serious damage to justice in the long term. Speaking

Stating a date rather than setting a time limit could help avoid mistakes in requests for permission to appeal decisions of the Scottish tribunals, the Faculty of Advocates has suggested. The Scottish government has proposed in draft regulations a time limit of 30 days to submit an application.

The Scottish Parliament has launched a legal bid against independence supporters who have set up camp on the grounds of Holyrood making calls for another referendum. The Parliament lodged the petition at the Court of Session yesterday in an attempt to recover the land occupied by campers after they

The House of Lords would not be able to block legislation under proposals to limit peers' powers after they rejected plans to cut tax credits. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, commissioned a review by Lord Strathclyde that recommends the House of Commons be given the final decision over secondary

Violent crime in Scotland has gone up after declining for a number of years. The latest police statistics show a small rise in “group one offences”, including robberies and serious assaults in the first half of 2015/16.