News

The Crown Office has responded to a Dundee sheriff’s criticism of it as “ill-informed and wrong” after he lambasted prosecutors for bringing a case to trial which fell apart in less than an hour, The Courier reports. Sheriff Alastair Brown said the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (C

Deputy first minister and finance secretary John Swinney (pictured) will consider revised residential tax rates for the land and buildings transaction tax (LBTT) – which will replace UK stamp duty land tax from April 2015. Mr Swinney will review the rates as part of the Scottish budget bill proces

The Crofting Commission last week lodged a request that a special case be stated on a question of law for the opinion of the Court of Session in connection with the Scottish Land Court’s decision of 18 December 2014 in the case of MacGillivray v Crofting Commission. That case concerned the Croftin

Lord McCluskey Lord McCluskey, the former solicitor general, has launched another attack on the Scottish government’s plans to get rid of corroboration.

A lawyer who is instructed by a person initially represented by a duty solicitor is only entitled to payment of half of the fixed fee where the accused changes their plea to guilty prior to the commencement of the trial or where the client offers a “mixed plea”. A sheriff has ruled in favour of

Two wealthy couples who have spent half a million pounds battling it out in court over a “few feet” of muddy ditch between their properties have been admonished by judges for their “absurd” waste of money. The couples’ dispute concerns a drainage ditch that runs alongside a bridle path bet

A group of students has been prepared for a national mooting competition, courtesy of some expert tuition from the Faculty of Advocates. The hopefuls intend entering the moot organised by the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association(UKELA) which asked the Faculty to provide some training in advo

Brodies LLP has been awarded a gold ranking in the World Trademark Review’s global list of the 1000 leading trademark professionals. The magazine describes Brodies as “the leading Scottish IP practice” and commends the firm for delivering “a premium service across all aspects of brand protec

Families Need Fathers Scotland, a family rights charity, has called on schools to adhere to legislation requiring them to involve both parents in the school life of a child. FNF Scotland said: "The Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 spelled out the obligations of schools and education

In this blog Norman Dalgleish discusses strategies for saving and the benefits of the new pension rules. Following the recent reforms of pension rules, which overall are highly beneficial to savers, the question has arisen as to whether people should be putting more money into their pension and shou

Scotland could benefit from adopting a Norwegian model for certain property transactions, experts have said. Trude B-J Margel, head of global enterprise at land and property information agency AMBITA AS, which is owned by the Norwegian government advocates the use of a digital system where all infor

Scottish police are to request an uncensored version of a report on CIA torture from US authorities as part of their investigation into the use of Scottish airports for the CIA'a extraordinary rendition programme The Press and Journal reports. The lord advocate Frank Mulholland has confirmed that po

The owners of a pub which had its licence revoked following several incidents of illegal drug use and public disorder have lost an appeal against the decision. The appellants claimed that the licensing board had failed to take account of and disclose a licensing standards officer’s (LSO) report in

The attorney general, Jeremy Right QC, is to determine whether a suspended sentence given to a religious studies teacher who had sex with a pupil should be reviewed. Stuart Kerner, 44, of Kent, was handed an 18-month suspended sentence for two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child by a

Denis Edwards (third from right) in Myanmar