News

Murderers whose crimes involve sexual or sadistic conduct will receive whole life orders by default under proposals announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The move will place a legal expectation on judges to hand down whole life orders, except in extremely limited circumstances.

Twin brothers who left a charity cyclist to die on a remote Highland roadside after hitting him with their pick-up truck before hiding his body in a pit set aside for animal carcasses have been jailed for a total of 17 years and three months. Alexander McKellar, 31, was driving the vehicle at high s

Davidson Chalmers Stewart has announced the appointment of real estate lawyer Andy Tyler, who has been recruited as its newest partner. Mr Tyler joins from Burness Paull where he spent four-and-a-half years supporting commercial and residential real estate clients on a broad spectrum of transactions

Clyde & Co recently held its annual Scottish golf competition at Ladybank Golf Club.

Brodies LLP has received double honours at the Scottish Business Insider Deals and Dealmakers awards 2023. The firm was named legal advisor of the year and received the award for diversity and inclusion. The honours were presented last week at a ceremony at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Glasgow. Now i

Addleshaw Goddard has retained its position as the top legal adviser for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Scotland, according to the latest Experian United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland M&A Review. The firm advised on 10 deals, retaining the top spot from the previous period. DWF mad

A fugitive scaled an electric pole where he remained perched for close to 24 hours before coming down to face the law. Officers from Brazil's southeastern state of Minas Gerais had approached the 38-year-old man on Friday with the intent of arresting him for parole violations.

The number of pending asylum decisions in the UK has reached an unprecedented 175,457 as of June 2023 – a 44 per cent increase from the 122,213 reported in June 2022. The new figure from the Home Office surpasses the previous peak in 1999 during Tony Blair's tenure as prime minister when 125,1

The government has granted a general licence to enable UK lawyers to provide legal advice to non-UK individuals and businesses in relation to their compliance with international sanctions on Russia, without breaching UK sanctions regulations themselves, writes Stacy Keen. UK Russian sanctions r

A tram company has been fined £240,000 following the tragic death of a 53-year-old pedestrian. Edinburgh Trams Limited, which operates the tramway system on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council, pled guilty to a breach of health and safety legislation at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday.

A round-up of human rights stories from around the world. House where Hitler was born to become police station and human rights training centre, Austria says

Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk and Attorney General Victoria Prentis have ordered an independent inquiry into the circumstances and handling of Andrew Malkinson’s case after his conviction for rape was quashed by the Court of Appeal last month. The inquiry will investigate the handling and the rol

Two new entries on child marriage have been published on the Edinburgh Private Law Blog. They are both written by Katy Macfarlane, senior lecturer in child and family law. She writes: "The minimum age at which a person can marry in Scotland is 16. This is set out in section 1 of the Marriage (Scotla

Hearings in the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry resume at 10am on Monday, 28 August, and are due to run until Friday, 1 September. They will take place at Capital House in Edinburgh and will be live-streamed here. Videos, transcripts and evidence will be published on the site as soon as possible after a hearing

Indigenous women who were forcibly sterilised under Canada's eugenics programme have been granted permission to bring a first-of-its-kind class-action lawsuit in the province of Quebec. Justice Lukasz Granosik, of the Superior Court of Quebec, this week ruled that litigants UT and MX can bring the s