News

New figures have shown that anti-terror legislation has been used for minor offences in Scotland hundreds of times over the last three years. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 (RIPSA), designed to catch terrorists, has been used against underage sunbed users and dog walkers.

Measures to improve the support and information available to victims and witnesses of crime in Scotland are being brought into force today. This is the second package of measures to be implemented from the Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014, which will improve the experience of victims and wi

The UK violated the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) four times last year, new figures released by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) show. The court decided 1,997 cases lodged against the UK last year. Of these 1,970 or 98.7 per cent were struck out or declared inadmissible.

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) has published the findings and recommendations of its scrutiny inquiry into the public impacts of Police Scotland’s decision in 2013 to authorise its trained armed response vehicle officers to operate under a firearms standing authority. Among its key findings,

A company director who was sued for more than £3,000 in professional fees by a law firm which was instructed by another director to act on the company’s behalf in a legal dispute has won an appeal after a court ruled he was not liable to pay the sum sued for. Radio presenter Scottie McClue, a for

An appeal by two landlords against a decision requiring them to pay a tenant thrice the deposit for a lease which they failed to timeously repay has been refused by judges in the Court of Session. An Extra Division of the Inner House comprising Lord Drummond Young, Lord Malcolm and Sheriff Principal

Alison Saunders In a major change to the investigation of sex offences, men accused of date rape will need to convince the police that the woman gave her consent to sex.

Jane Ryder  

The Scottish government has offered its support to Liberty’s “common values” campaign. The campaign aims to broaden understanding and respect for human rights and counter the damaging myths and misunderstandings that have grown around it.

Aberdeen Solicitors’ Property Centre Limited in cooperation with the University of Aberdeen, Business School, Centre for Real Estate Research have published statistics for the fourth quarter of 2014 relating to the Aberdeen housing market. The main points arising from the report are:

Fraser Hardie (pictured right), has joined the firm to head up the firm’s Edinburgh office, working within the commercial property group. With experience in property and construction legal work, Mr Hardie has served as a partner with four other major law firms.

More funding is being made available for projects designed to tackle female offending in Scotland after justice secretary Michael Matheson today announced an additional £1.5 million would be made available. It follows the decision earlier this week that plans for a female prison at HMP Inverclyde w

In response to the announcement by the lord president, Lord Gill on the timetable for reform of Scotland’s civil courts, Alistair Morris, president of the Law Society of Scotland said: “The timetable for reform set out by the lord president is set to transform our civil courts through the use of

Alistair C. Clark

A father who took out after-the-event (ATE) insurance for a legal dispute with his son cannot recover the premium as part of his expenses, after the UK Supreme Court ruled that it was not a recoverable cost against the unsuccessful party in legal proceedings. A panel of three justices unanimously he