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Brian McConnachie QC Following the passage of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm Bill at Holyrood some practitioners have expressed concern about judges giving juries specific directions when dealing with sexual offence cases, designed to “improve juries’ understanding of sexual violence”.

Susan O’Brien QC The public inquiry into child abuse will be the costliest in Scottish history.

Over £11,000 has been spent on gowns, wigs and wig boxes worn by Scottish legal staff in the last three years, The Scotsman reports. An additional £240,000 was paid to cover uniforms for court officials, figures from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) show.

Michael Shaw Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced the appointment of Michael Shaw as its new general counsel.

Fergus Ewing The Law Society of Scotland and Faculty of Advocates have backed energy minister Fergus Ewing’s calls this week on the UK government to clearly state where theOil and Gas Authority’s appeals process would be held.

Paul Hally Shepherd and Wedderburn has acted on behalf of Bank of Scotland plc and HM Treasury in relation to new revolving loan note facilities of up to £86 million to Countesswells Development Ltd (a subsidiary of the Stewart Milne Group Ltd). The financing will be used to fund the development of

A senior judge has gone on record to applaud a free Faculty of Advocates scheme which helps claimants at hearings of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). Mr Justice Langstaff, president of the EAT, said that pro bono representation had operated successfully for some years in its London office, and

(L-R): Laura King, associate, head of private client and Matt Gray, managing director of property services

Macleod & MacCallum, of Inverness, has won both awards that it was shortlisted for at the annual Highland Business Women's Club Awards dinner last Friday.

The Scottish Sentencing Council has brought together comprehensive and easy to read information on sentencing practice in a bid to demystify the sentencing process in Scotland. Sentencing can be complicated and the resource has been developed to provide comprehensive information in one place as a re

Angela Constance Sexual abuse survivors left a meeting in tears after a minister failed to disclose how a support scheme would help them.

Iain Robertson CBE

David Harvie has been appointed to the role of crown agent, head of Scotland's prosecution service, taking over from Catherine Dyer who leaves at the start of April. Mr Harvie is a solicitor advocate and is currently procurator fiscal for the West of Scotland.

Legislation to modernise the governance and scrutiny of burials and cremations has been passed by the Scottish Parliament. The Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Bill will modernise and update 100 year-old legislation – introducing a definition of ashes, standardising forms and record-keeping across