News

A bill to reform and modernise the law relating to judicial factors has been passed. The Judicial Factors (Scotland) Bill aims to bring clarity, accessibility and efficiency to an area of law which largely has not been changed since the 19th century.

A former solicitor has been sentenced for defrauding the legal aid body south of the border and making substantial gain at the public's expense. Phil Shiner, 67, has been sentenced to two years' imprisonment suspended for two years for three counts of fraud at Southwark Crown Court. He pleaded guilt

Five members of a drugs-trafficking gang who plotted to flood Scotland with almost a tonne of cocaine imported from South America have had Serious Crime Prevention Orders (SCPOs) imposed by the court. Gerard Carbin, 45; James Bilsland, 68; Lloyd Cross, 32; Ryan McPhee, 34 and Paul Bowes, 53, were re

A parody musical inspired by Australia's infamous Olympic breakdancer Raygun has been shut down following a threat of legal action. Lawyers for Rachael Gunn – who uses the breakdancing name Raygun – intervened to stop the debut performance of Raygun: The Musical just hours before it was

A senior Caribbean judge has begun taking part in hearings before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC). Dame Janice M. Pereira, the former chief justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, was invited to sit with the JCPC by Lord Reed – which was made possible by her appoint

The UK has temporarily paused the processing of asylum applications from Syrians following the end of Bashar al-Assad's rule over the country. In line with the approach taken by a number of other European countries, the Home Office said it had "temporarily paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims wh

Clan Childlaw and Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) have been awarded funding from the Independent Human Rights Fund for Scotland, managed by the Corra Foundation. A partnership between the two organisations will allow Clan to apply a legal lens to the information gathered thr

Scottish authorities have transferred a section of the aircraft from the Lockerbie bombing to the US ahead of a Libyan suspect’s trial in Washington DC. The transfer forms part of an evidence-sharing agreement between Scottish law enforcement authorities and American counterparts. 

Barriers in accessing justice, including chronic challenges in the legal aid system, are among human rights issues identified by the Scottish Human Rights Commission in a new report presented to the Scottish Parliament. Scotland's human rights watchdog has published its State of the Nation 2024

Irwin Mitchell Scotland has welcomed Izabela Wosiak, Rachel Brown and Emma McCutcheon to its personal injury team. Ms Wosiak, who joins the firm as senior associate solicitor, has 17 years' experience supporting foreign clients injured in Scotland or abroad.

A charity led by Scottish lawyer Mary Sharpe has made submissions to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in a landmark case concerning restrictions on porn in Texas. Texas law HB 1181, signed into law last year, imposes strict age verification requirements on websites containing "sexual

A group of advocates have returned from an intensive 'train the trainers' conference held in the Drakensberg in South Africa. The five-day advocacy training conference aimed to develop new skills among those responsible for training aspiring advocates.

Thousands of drug convictions are set to be overturned because the drugs in question were produced by the police department that made the arrests. The Broward County Sheriff's Office in Florida manufactured crack cocaine between 1988 and 1990 and sent its officers onto the streets to sell it –

TikTok has been dealt a blow in its legal battle against a US law that would see the platform banned if it is not sold to a new owner. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against TikTok on Friday in its challenge to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Contr

Rights organisations have welcomed the dramatic overthrow of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad as an opportunity to "chart a new future built on justice, accountability, and respect for human rights". Assad is said to have fled to Russia on Sunday as various paramilitary forces reached Damascus less t