News

A student who was caught with cocaine in a nightclub in Aberdeen has not been punished after a sheriff said a conviction would “blight” his career prospects. Conor McCarthy, who studied mechanical engineering at the University of Strathclyde, was found with a bag of the class-A drug by police of

A boy who was caught with Ecstasy at a festival has avoided getting a criminal record after he wrote a 500-word essay on drugs for a sheriff. Aaron Bertram, 17, was found with Ecstasy at T in the Park last year but was granted an absolute discharge after penning an essay entitled: “The Perils of D

Operators of a motorsport track in Suffolk who had to pay occupants of a neighbouring bungalow £20,000 in damages as result of being liable in nuisance have now been told to pay nearly £500,000 in legal costs as the case was one of no-win-no-fee, the UK Supreme Court has ruled. Moto-Land UK Ltd an

New Whitehall files suggest MI5insisted on a cover-up of child abuse claims against an MP in order to prevent embarrassment for theThatcher government. The documents were discovered in a Cabinet Office storeroom of “assorted and unstructured papers".

Lloyds Banking Group has been ordered to reveal legal advice it received in the run-up to its takeover of Scottish bank HBOS during the 2008 financial crisis. Mr Justice Nugee, in a pre-case hearing at the High Court in London, ruled in favour of the Lloyds Shareholder Action Group, who have demande

Lady Stacey A prisoner whose confidential correspondence was opened by prison authorities had his human rights breached, a judge in the Court of Session has ruled.

Police Scotland is pushing for a centralised CCTV network governing all of Scotland's streets, public spaces and shops following a warning that the majority of its current cameras are unreliable and possibly unlawful. The single force told Scottish ministers it wants to abolish the current “piecem

A major consultation has been launched on the consumer fund available to clients who fall victim to dishonest Scottish solicitors. The Law Society of Scotland has launched its three month consultation on the Scottish Solicitors’ Guarantee Fund following the completion of an independent review by K

The fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the Glasgow bin lorry crash begins today, with lawyers for the families of the victims saying they hope it will ensure such an incident never occurs again. Held at Glasgow Sheriff Court, the FAI aims to “establish the circumstances relating to the tragic death

Yvonne Brady The number of Scottish corporate insolvencies in the first quarter of the year is 21.2 per cent lower than over the same time last year, according to newAccountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) data.

Michael McDougall Michael McDougall says licensing law must keep pace with developments in the provision of taxi services.

In its in the case of Oliari and Others v. Italy(application no. 18766/11 and 36030/11) the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of article 8 – right to respect for private and family life – of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). T

The number of debt cases being considered by Scottish courts has continued to fall for the fifth year in a row. There were 35,400 debt cases raised in 2013-14, a drop of 46 per cent since 2008-09.

George Osborne The UK government is bringing forward legislation to improve the governance of the Bank of England and consolidate its financial regulation powers.

The UK Supreme Court has refused an application by a budget airline to challenge a Court of Appeal ruling in a case relating to a dispute over its minority stake in a another carrier. The Competition and Markets Authority – previously the Competition Commission (CC) – had directed Ryanair to red