News

Church of Scotland officials have warned ministers may be taken to court if they refuse to wed gay couples. The church's general assembly will next month consider a report by the legal questions committee (LQC) of the organisation which warns the church may be “vulnerable to legal challenge” as

House prices rose 13.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014-15, while the volume of sales dropped by 4.7 per cent compared to the same period last year according to official statistics published today by Registers of Scotland (RoS). The average house price in Scotland from January to March was £1

Nearly half of motorists who ignore traffic laws have said they do so on purpose because they either do not believe in the laws or do not think they will be caught. Seven in ten respondents to a survey said they had seen other drivers eating or drinking, using their phones or tailgating.

Margaret Burgess

DLA Piper has advised Heart of Midlothian football club on a significant partnership with Save the Children. Led by Graeme Henry, partner and head of the restructuring team in Scotland, DLA Piper helped structure the deal which will see Hearts FC become the first ever club in the UK to carry the nam

Demand for commercial property in the UK is growing close to its fastest pace since 1998 and, along with a surge in investment, reflects the widening economic recovery, according to the latest RICS Commercial Market Survey. In Q1 2015 demand for commercial properties in Scotland increased, with 32 p

Proceedings have been issued against a retired army general who is being sued over the death of a Catholic man at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Sir Frank Kitson and the Ministry of Defence have been accused of complicity in a February 1973 attack when loyalist paramilitaries threw

Counsel from other jurisdictions must join the Scottish Bar if they wish to appear in Scotland’s supreme courts, judges have ruled, in refusing an application from an English barrister seeking rights of audience. The Inner House of the Court of Session held that the court’s “inherent power”

A Holyrood committee has said the buying of sex should not be criminalised under new human trafficking legislation being considered by the parliament. Campaigners have called for the practice to be made illegal as part of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Bill but MSPs have said the bill was no

Female police officers in Scotland have called for the same maternity rights as officers in England who get an extra five weeks of leave. Policewomen in Scotland get 13 weeks leave on full pay after having a child, whereas in England they are given 18 weeks.

Attempts to investigate reports of asylum seekers being denied food and living in poor conditions at a Scottish detention centre have been blocked by the Home Office. The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) requested a visit to Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre in South Lanarkshire but was refus

Cycling accident campaigners have called for a presumption of liability against motorists to be introduced in civil cases after a freedom of information request revealed only a small number of drivers are reported to prosecutors following accidents with bicycles. Members of Cycle Law Scotland would

The lord advocate has enlisted the help of a geoforensics expert to find the remains of a girl who went missing in 1957. Frank Mulholland QC (pictured) has instructed soil expert Professor Lorna Dawson of the Hutton Institute in Aberdeen to assist with the search for the remains of Moira Anderson.

Eight of the 10 seats due to be filled on the Law Society of Scotland’s Council this year will see a contested election after 17 solicitors put themselves forward for the 2015 elections. This year’s elections sees the final reduction in the number of seats since Law Society members voted to redu

Shepherd and Wedderburn acted for the shareholders of Green Highland Renewables Limited in the sale of the company to Ancala Renewables, an infrastructure investment company. The sale provides Green Highland Renewables with additional capital to support the continued growth of the business.