News

A bill to create a duty to provide crisis grants for people on low incomes and to support independent living has been passed by the Scottish parliament. The passing of the Welfare Funds (Scotland) Bill will make the Scottish Welfare Fund a permanent, statutory scheme.

Gemma Ogilvie

Two Celtic supporters who were convicted of “offensive behaviour at football” after singing a pro-IRA and INLA song have been granted leave to appeal over whether their human rights had been breached. The Criminal Appeal Court will be asked to consider whether the applicants’ rights under Arti

The story entitled “Local council to ask for historic building transferred in error to be returned” in yesterday’s SLN contained an inaccuracy. We stated: “Along with Laigh Hall it was part-gifted to the Faculty of Advocates.”

An arrangement where a woman carried her son’s baby as a surrogate mother has been described as “entirely lawful” by a judge. The mother carried the donor egg which had been fertilised with her son’s sperm when another female relative who was meant to carry the IVF baby was forced to withdra

Maria Rud, a Russian artist based in Edinburgh, along with sculptor and partner Ewan Allinson, have won a legal case against the Swiss gallery, Galerie Zabbeni. In 2012, Ms Rud and Mr Allinson were invited by gallery owner Andrea Zabbeni, to exhibit over 30 original works of art and sculpture at the

Seventeen members of the Faculty of Advocates have been appointed to a new panel of counsel for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The commission has drawn up two groups, for Scotland and for England and Wales. In total, there are 81 advocates, barristers and solicitor advocates who wi

From left: Bryan Burnett, Scottish television and radio presenter, Fraser Oliver, Digby Brown chief executive receiving the award, Jamie Cumming, commercial director, Hillington Park

The Home Office has been accused of holding “highly offensive” and “outdated” views of sexuality after it rejected the asylum claim of a Nigerian lesbian, who claims to be avoiding sexual persecution, on the basis she cannot be gay as she has children and was previously in heterosexual relat

A juror who trawled Facebook for information about a witness despite being told not to has avoided going to jail for contempt of court. Elisabeth Howden, 49, also said one of the accused looked at her in a “funny” way.

The man found guilty of the “limbs in the loch” murder has had an appeal against a decision of the Scottish Information Commissioner concerning a freedom of information request he made to the Scottish Prison Service refused. William Beggs alleged that commissioner Rosemary Agnew made “fundamen

The School of Law at the University of Aberdeen hosted this year’s Scottish Client Consultation Competition Final on 11 February. Representatives of six Scottish universities (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Robert Gordon and Strathclyde) participated in the contest, which simulates an initi

A think tank has said today the “epidemic” of burglary and shoplifting affecting the UK is being ignored by the criminal justice system. A report by the think tank Policy Exchange states that three quarters of all crime in the UK relates to property but that the courts and police are turning a b

Cloch Solicitors has welcomed an LLB student to the firm for work experience this week. Fraser Crombie (pictured) is gaining experience at the firm as part of its campus programme with the University of Stirling (now in its second year), and in fulfilment of a work based learning module at the Unive

Money seized from bankers is set to benefit the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Family Support Trust by £200,000. The money, collected from fines issued to banks found to be falsely inflating or deflating rates, will now be used to help care for personnel and their dependants who are injured, suff