News

The International Bar Association (IBA) has released a statement in defence of lawyer-client confidentiality, following a number of recent attacks on the principle from high-profile international organisations. The statement, with forewords by Lord Neuberger, former president of the UK Supreme Court

David Strang has been named as the new chair of the Drug Deaths Taskforce. He is a former chief constable who previously chaired the independent inquiry into mental health services in Tayside. Mr Strang was also HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in Scotland. He takes up this new position with immediate

As one of Scotland’s busiest trial counsel, Thomas Leonard Ross QC is well-known for passionately fighting for justice – in the courtroom and out of it. Most recently he has been a vocal opponent of the proposal that the historical right to trial by jury be removed where serious sexual o

A Lord Ordinary has granted authority to the Royal Bank of Scotland to resign as the trustee on a series of trusts it administered following a decision by the bank to discontinue its trusts and administration business and sell it to another company. RBS had sold its trust business to Ludlow Trust Co

Justice Secretary Keith Brown has announced the appointment of Lindsay Montgomery as the new lay chairing member of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland. Mr Montgomery has substantial experience in the management, leadership and governance of public bodies. Past roles include director of res

A former Syrian intelligence officer has been sentenced to life in prison following his conviction in Germany for crimes against humanity. German prosecutors alleged that Anwar Raslan, 58, was in charge of the Al-Khatib prison in Damascus where Syrian dissidents were tortured and killed.

Prosecutors are less likely to pursue people involved in mercy killings in cases where a suspect is “wholly motivated by compassion” or where the person had reached a “voluntary, settled and informed decision to end their life”. Current Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) advice

A wanted man who was believed to have died in the US nearly two years ago has been found alive in a Glasgow hospital after contracting Covid-19. Nicholas Rossi apparently faked his death to escape serious criminal charges in Utah and Ohio and has been living in Scotland under an assumed name, NBC re

Mark Zuckerberg may be forced to pay UK Facebook users about £50 each if a legal case succeeds. Competition law academic Liza Lovdahl Gormsen is to lodge a case against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, on behalf of 44 million users between 2015 and 2019, The Times reports.

The legal market in Scotland has changed over the last year, although perhaps not to the extent that anyone would have predicted. Firms have, in general terms, coped well with remote working and are beginning to cope well with hybrid working too. Traditional streams of work have been maintained and

Nadine Martin has been appointed as legal director at Gibson Kerr Solicitors. She has an established practice which encompasses all areas of family law and child law, including separation, divorce, financial provision, cohabitation, residence and contact disputes and relocation of children.

Following a selection process, Professor Jo Shaw has been appointed head of school at Edinburgh Law School. Professor Shaw has held the Salvesen Chair of European Institutions since January 2005, as well as the roles of dean of research of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences from 200

A 72-year-old man accused of committing sexual offences against five complainers in the 1980s and 1990s has lost an appeal against the refusal of an application under section 275 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 seeking to lead evidence that one of the complainers was 17 years

A sheriff has been charged in connection with matters which will become public when he appears in court shortly. Alistair Duff, 67, who once represented Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, retired on December 1 last year after a 45-year career. 

Yesterday SLN asked readers for their verdict on 'partygate', the controversy prompted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's attendance at a gathering of staff in May 2020, the nature of which is disputed.