News

The number of new King's Counsel named in England and Wales has declined for the second year in a row. Some 95 lawyers were appointed as KCs just before Christmas, down from 101 in the previous year and a fifth less than the 116 named in 2020.

Roland Smyth discusses the challenges facing the tourism industry in Scotland as a result of Covid and Brexit and suggests ways to address these issues including investment in staff training, public sector support, and a focus on ESG issues to make the industry more attractive to a wider talent pool

A pair of bungling burglars were caught after they called police for help transporting their stolen goods. The couple – named only as Martin and Liz – were arrested in Poinciana, Florida on New Year's Eve after officers responded to a 911 call from the house they were burgling.

A former prosecutor who threatened one of his husband’s hair salon beauticians with deportation has been banned from practising law for two years. The Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal (SSDT) suspended procurator fiscal David Wilkie-Thorburn, 55, for two years following a hearing earlier

A police officer has been given £44,000 after his Celtic mug was defaced with graffiti about the Pope. Police Sergeant Paul McCue, 42, was subjected to religious harassment while working in the Civil Nuclear Constabulary unit at Hunterston power station, having been harassed twice before.

Alan Shanks, head of Scotland at Addleshaw Goddard, reflects on 2022 and looks at what lies ahead in 2023 for the firm and for the wider Scottish landscape. Like many businesses, we approach 2023 with a degree of caution given the macro-economic and geopolitical challenges that will continue to impa

The Dean of Faculty has been blocked on Twitter by the SNP MSP responsible for scrutiny of civil justice at Holyrood. Joe FitzPatrick blocked Roddy Dunlop KC, as well as others including a senior member of his own party, Joanna Cherry KC.

Gillespie Macandrew has announced the appointment of Lois Newton, partner in its land and rural team, as a trustee of the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RSABI). She said: “I am delighted to join the board of Trustees. RSABI provide vital services to support the agricultura

Working in partnership with Ukraine’s Constitutional Court, the University of Birmingham and Ivan Franko National University, Lviv (IFNUL) have defined the first 1,000 terms in a unique handbook for scientists, human rights defenders, and legal experts further developing the country as a const

Most rape trials in France will take place without juries under a widely-opposed cost-saving reform that undoes a change instituted by the 1789 revolution. All cases involving crimes with maximum sentences of between 15 and 20 years will be tried by courts of five judges rather than three judges and

A man who was convicted of stabbing another man at a bus stop outside a high-rise block in Glasgow and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment as a result has lost an appeal against his conviction and sentence in the High Court of Justiciary. Richard Gordon was convicted of the attempted murder of

Solicitors in Aberdeen have warned that there are too few of them to cover additional trial courts that are to run in an effort to address the case backlog. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) has announced that additional sheriff and jury trials courts are to run in Aberdeen, Peterhead

Criminals in the north east are escaping conviction due to lengthy delays in holding trials, according to one lawyer. Ian Woodward-Nutt claimed the problem is worse at Aberdeen Sheriff Court than elsewhere in Scotland and warned the criminal justice system is verging on “collapse”.

A complaint against a sheriff who held shares in Rangers FC and who granted more than 20 warrants as part of a failed police inquiry into the club's takeover has been withdrawn due to the complainer's lack of confidence in the judiciary's ability to deal with the complaint properly. David Grier, 61,

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have revealed that dozens of drivers with 12 points or more on their record are still behind the wheel on Scotland’s roads as they called for an examination of whether persistent offenders are being properly dealt with. A freedom of information request submitted