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The Justice Secretary, Angela Constance, in arguing in favour of non-jury trials for certain sexual offences, keeps repeating that there is “evidence” that jurors take into consideration factors which are irrelevant; what she describes as “rape myths” – for example not

A poll published by the Constitution Society has found that 53 per cent of people in Great Britain believe that members of the royal family beyond the King, Queen and Prince of Wales should not be supported from public funds. Sixty-one per cent of people in Great Britain agree that information on th

Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has advised Triodos Bank UK on a landmark multi-million pound loan facility to Oxygen Conservation, in what is believed to be the largest conservation-focused commercial debt package in the UK to date. The funding, worth £20.55 million, has supported Oxygen Conserva

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the Jehovah’s Witnesses organisation was not vicariously liable for a rape committed by a former elder on a 29-year-old married woman after an appeal by a Wales-based congregation of the organisation. The Trustees of the Barry Congregation of Jehovah’s

Laura Cameron’s dream of becoming a dentist when growing up in Perth was thwarted by an unfortunate and insuperable drawback: her aversion to the sight of blood. “Although I studied sciences at school and got the grades, after a few dissections in the biology lab I realised fairly early

Gillespie Macandrew has expanded its partnership with the addition of private client specialist David Mowlem. With 15 years of experience in tax and estate planning, Mr Mowlem is dual qualified in Scots and English law and joins the firm from Turcan Connell. As a chartered tax adviser, his appointme

Russian police were led on a wild goose chase after reports that a "Ukrainian saboteur pigeon" had been spotted over Moscow. A concerned resident told police that he had seen a pigeon painted in the yellow and blue colours of the Ukrainian flag flying over Moscow clutching a mine.

Amnesty International has come under criticism after using AI-generated images to illustrate social media posts about human rights abuses in Colombia. The images, which were shared to Amnesty's Instagram account with over one million followers as as well as tweeted from national Twitter accounts, in

Scottish Legal News is pleased to report that Lord Uist's thoughtful article on the constitutionality or otherwise of juryless trials has been widely followed up and reported in The Times, The Scotsman, The Herald, The Press and Journal, the BBC, The Independent and STV, bringing this important lega

A new approach to equip justice agencies with the skills and knowledge needed to "reduce the re-traumatisation of victims and witnesses of crime" has been published today. It underpins a key aim of the Scottish government's Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, introduced last

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) has today published a report on the initial engagement or ‘terms of business’ letters firms issue when instructed by a client. Looking at a sample of 80 letters, the SLCC considered to what extent they complied with Law Society of Scotland

Burness Paull has bolstered its rural business offering with the addition of a six-person team led by agriculture and estates specialist Linda Tinson. Ms Tinson has been appointed as a partner in Burness Paull’s real estate division and head of the firm’s expanded rural business practice

Burges Salmon has announced the appointment of AJ Venter as a partner in its corporate and M&A team based in Edinburgh. He joins Burges Salmon from Travers Smith, where he was senior counsel in the corporate M&A and equity capital markets group.

CMS has announced the promotion of Siobhan Kahmann to partner level. The Brussels-based competition and regulatory law specialist, who works across the Scottish marketplace, is among several new global partner promotions announced by the firm this year.

Dear Editor, I applaud the reasoned contribution of Lord Uist to the proposals for juryless rape trials contained in the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill.