News

The Crown Office has lodged a first notice to begin the court process for a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the death of Gregor Deakin. Mr Deakin, 48, died on 6 October 2021 after an accident where a JCB being driven by him fell off the pier at Ardeonaig Hotel, Killin and landed in Loch Tay.

A new survey conducted by Shoosmiths has revealed that litigation cases are on the rise, with over 25 per cent of in-house legal teams expecting that they will be dealing with claims in Scotland in 2024. The major trends report, that surveyed the views of 360 general counsel / senior-in-house lawyer

Post Office lawyers feared a public relations disaster if the Crown Office halted prosecutions, the public inquiry into the Horizon scandal has heard. In a witness statement, Kenneth Donnelly, deputy crown agent for specialist casework said that the Crown Office was approached in 2013 after provisio

Majority verdicts were introduced in part to dilute the influence of ethnic minority and working class jurors, according to new research. Undertaken by miscarriage of justice charity Appeal, the study found that the rationale for the introduction of majority verdicts in 1967, as opposed to unanimous

The Law Society of Scotland has welcomed nine new solicitor advocates yesterday, joining the 16 who were introduced last week.

A family law expert at Lindsays is among the first in Scotland to qualify in child inclusive mediation. Children in Scotland whose parents are separating are being given greater voice in legal discussions over their future.

Five political prisoners will have their ‘godparenthood’ taken over by Scottish government ministers as part of an initiative to "amplify the voices" of those suffering human rights abuses in Belarus. The #WeStandBYyou campaign, organised by the human rights group Libereco, advocates for

A new two-part documentary series, Murder Trial: The Killing of Dr Brenda Page, focuses on the trial of one of Scotland’s most prolific unsolved murders and a family’s quest for justice. In July 1978, Dr Brenda Page, a 32-year-old leading scientist at Aberdeen University was brutally mur

Kirk Dailly has been appointed as head of the business services group at Blackadders LLP. As a partner at the firm and the existing head of Blackadders’ corporate and commercial team, he has extensive experience in the sector. He takes over from Campbell Clark, who continues as a partner and a

Dear Editor, All power to Alistair Bonnington’s elbow in suing TV Licensing. It would not surprise me if their argument was that there had been some unfortunate mistake, thus suggesting that Alistair’s experience is an exception.

A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of taping dead fish to more than a dozen ATMs over a two-month period. Police believe the 17-year-old is the prankster responsible for running an Instagram account named "fish_bandit84", which shared photos of the bizarre deeds with tens of thousands of foll

A new University of Dundee study could improve transparency and remove organisational bias from an increasingly important aspect of police and forensic scientific work. The CLARUS project has brought together organisations from across Europe to evaluate and improve how law enforcement and forensic s

Families who have lost loved ones to homicide have called on the Scottish government to grant anonymity to child victims of crime. In a letter signed by 65 people and released by Victim Support Scotland (VSS), signatories call on the government automatically grant anonymity to child victims.

Defence lawyers are preparing to boycott the pilot scheme for juryless rape trials. The Scottish Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA) is to ballot members on the new proposal contained in the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Sophie Mills has been promoted to the new position of principal solicitor, governance and charities at the WS Society. Ms Mills will work with chief executive Robert Pirrie in assuming responsibility for the society’s administration and consultancy services to a portfolio of third-party charit