News

Two new members have been appointed to the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland (JABS). Deirdre Fulton is appointed as a lay member and Alistair Morris (pictured) as a legal member. The JABS was established by ministers in 2002 in order to create more open and accessible arrangements for judicia

The Faculty of Advocates has mounted a robust defence of the appeals system for business rates valuation, and urged the Scottish government to leave it well alone. The current system works “very satisfactorily”, said the Faculty, but damage could be done and costs could increase if local valuati

Current proposals to make the Scottish parliament "permanent" represent a political declaration rather than any matter of law, the Law Society of Scotland said today. One of the central recommendations of the Smith Commission on Devolution (paragraph 21) was for new legislation to make the Scottish

A legal challenge may be mounted by privacy campaigners against the Scottish government’s plans to create a “super ID database”. The Open Rights Group (ORG) has voiced concern that plans to open Scotland’s National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR) to hundreds of public bodies, among t

A number of Scottish children have been trafficked into sex slavery, forced marriage, domestic servitude and other types of exploitation academics said in a submission to Holyrood’s justice committee. They said 60 children from Scotland have been reported to the authorities via the National Referr

A homeowner who was declared bankrupt after failing to pay more that £11,000 in council tax has had an appeal to have an award of sequestration granted against her reduced despite claiming that she never lived in the property. Judges in the Inner House of the Court of Session said “exceptional ci

Staff at Burness Paull have raised thousands of pounds for their charity partner over the last 12 months, helping to support people living with mental illness. The Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) was chosen as a charity partner by staff at the law firm and since early 2014, employees a

An internet troll faces a £100,000 bill after an American lawyer successfully sued him for libel. Jason Page, 19, left a review on Google Maps describing Timothy Bussey, a Colorado lawyer, as “a scumbag” who “loses 80 per cent of his cases”, theHigh Court heard.

The adequacy of the audit and accountability arrangements of those who will be delivering the proposed new devolved powers in future is the focus of a call for views launched today by the Public audit committee. Organisations such as the BBC, Department of Work and Pensions, British Transport Police

Fiona McAllister (pictured) discusses privacy rights six months after the creation of IPSO. Six months after the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) issued its Data Protection guidance and the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) took over from the Press Complaints Commission, we still

An increasing number of fake marriages are taking place in Scotland as people attempt to use the system as a means of entry into the UK according to official figures. Registrars have reported a peak of 570 suspected fraudulent weddings in the past year, according to the National Records of Scotland.

A senior member of the Faculty of Advocates has been appointed the first President of the Scottish Tax Tribunals. Andrew Stewart QC (pictured), will lead the new tribunals, which are being created to deal with devolved taxes.

A legal hearing is to be held in Edinburgh to speed up the criminal investigation into the North Sea helicopter crash which saw four offshore workers killed. The lord advocate, Frank Mulholland QC (pictured), will argue in the Court of Session on May 19 that accident investigators should hand over t

A heroin addict who was jailed for selling ecstasy at a rave to fund his habit has won an appeal against sentence. Andrew Fisher was sentenced to three years imprisonment after being found with over 100 ecstasy tablets at a dance event, but appeal judges reduced the custodial term after ruling that

SCBA members celebrate International Women’s Day at Edinburgh High Court