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Scottish lawyer Helena Kennedy QC (pictured) has presented a programme for BBC Radio 4 entitled A Modern Magna Carta in which she attempts to design a Magna Carta for today's globalised world. The original charter sought to control the power of the king, but in a fluid world without borders, much po

Hot on the heels of its nomination for “legal training provider of the year” at the forthcoming Scott & Co Legal Awards for 2015, the Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association (SYLA) has launched its latest events to members. The programme over the next eight weeks includes a new Civil Day Confe

Scientists working for the Scottish Police Authority(SPA) Forensic Services can now identify DNA in smaller and lower quality samples than before following substantial investment in forensic technology. Established within the Scottish Crime Campus at Gartcosh, scientists working at the Scottish Poli

House prices continued to rise in the third quarter of 2014-15, according to official statistics published today by Registers of Scotland (RoS). The average house price in Scotland in the third quarter was £165,197, up 3.4 per cent on the same period in 2013.

Plans to introduce legislation to create a more accessible, affordable and equitable civil justice system for Scotland have been set out by Scottish ministers. A consultation on proposals for primary legislation on the expenses and funding of civil litigation has been published, with all those invol

The European Court of Human Rights(ECtHR) has ruled the whole-life sentence imposed on a murderer and rapist who challenged his sentence on the basis it infringes his human rights is competent because a mechanism for review of such sentences exists. British citizen Arthur Hutchinson was the first pr

Additional specialist prosecutors are to be introduced, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has said in its strategic plan. COPFS said it would consider bringing in more specialist units to deal with a rise in complex cases.

The Law Society of Scotland has reported a rise in the number of traineeships available for aspiring solicitors. Following a slight decrease the previous year, an 11 per cent rise in the number of traineeships started in 2013/14 indicates improving prospects for Scotland’s future lawyers.

Long term prisoners will no longer be eligible for automatic early release after two thirds of their sentence following first minister Nicola Sturgeon's announcement of an end to the current system of automatic early release for all offenders serving more than four years. Ms Sturgeon (pictured) said

A judge in the High Court who threatened a man with imprisonment for failing to maintain divorce payments has been recused from a case for showing excessive hostility and using “intemperate” language. Sir Nicholas Mostyn (pictured) was removed from the case which concerned the former wife ofbusi

It has emerged that the chair of the police watchdog, who earned £90,000 last year, submitted claims of hundreds of pounds to attend the funerals of victims of the Clutha helicopter disaster. Vic Emery, the Scottish Police Authority’s chair (pictured), made the claims for expenses to attend the f

A new legal education programme is set for expansion in Scottish schools. Following the success of the Law Society of Scotland’s pilot programme, schools across the country from Aberdeen to Ayrshire have signed up to take part in Street Law, which aims to bring the law to life in the classroom by

The Law Society of Scotland is seeking feedback from members in order to gauge how many Scottish solicitors could be affected by new regulations for letting agents set out under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014. The Scottish government is in the process of preparing to implement a new scheme for the

Edinburgh-headquartered law firm Gillespie Macandrew is planning to open a Glasgow office in March. The firm opened its first office outside Edinburgh in Perth in 2012.

Proposed changes to legal aid will deny justice to some of the most vulnerable people in society, according to Shelter Scotland. The housing and homelessness charity said it has “grave concerns” about proposals put forward by the Law Society of Scotland to remove some aspects of housing law from