News

A review of the collection and use of fingerprints by police in Scotland is to be carried out by next spring. Dr Brian Plastow, the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner, announced the review today as he set out his strategic plan for the next four years.

A rapist who targeted three women during a campaign of serious sexual offending lasting just over a month has been jailed. Mihai-Nicolae Patran was found guilty of rape, sexual assault and sexual exposure following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Former UK Supreme Court justice Lord Sumption has called for the UK's withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In a scathing article for The Telegraph, Lord Sumption accuses judges of the European Court of Human Rights of having "emancipated themselves from the [ECHR] and buil

Several exciting speakers have been confirmed for the Faculty of Advocates' ever-popular annual 21st Century Bar Conference, to be held in Edinburgh next month. The Rt Hon Lord Pentland, Lord President and Lord Justice General, will deliver the keynote address at the free event.

A judge has imposed a fine of more than £1,000 on the owner of a cat for trespassing into a neighbour's garden – with further fines threatened for future transgressions. Dominique Valdès, who lives in Béziers in southern France, said hearing the controversial ruling about h

Various options available as a result of sole practitioner requiring to take on a care role.

Edinburgh law firm Murray Beith Murray has assets of nearly £3.2 million, the firm has revealed in its first-ever published accounts. The private client firm has more than doubled its turnover in the last decade, with revenue up by 10 per cent last year alone, according to financial informatio

A trio from Holmes Mackillop Solicitors are seeking to raise £2,500 for The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice after taking part in the John Muir Way Nocturnal Ultra Marathon. Craig Donnelly, Ross Brown and Sam Hamilton are welcoming donations via JustGiving after part in the run under cov

Amina Amin has been elected president of the Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association (SYLA), becoming its first-ever president from an ethnic minority background. Ms Amin is joined on the SYLA executive committee by vice president Heather Gibson, secretaries Kate Docherty and Kirsten Gallacher, tr

Solicitor Morag McNeill has been reappointed as chair of the board of Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) for a further 18-month term. Ms McNeill has over 35 years’ experience as a corporate lawyer in private practice and with Forth Ports plc.

Our weekly round-up of human rights stories from around the world. Sudan’s brutal civil war – what has happened in El Fasher?

Draft plans to cut emissions have been published by the Scottish government. The draft Climate Change Plan to 2040 sets out actions designed to reduce Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions and meet its first three carbon budgets.

The Supreme Court hosted delegates from the US Supreme Court in late October.

The procurator fiscal has lodged a first notice to commence the court process for a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the deaths of Philip Quinn, Richard McCormick and Alexander Morgan, all of whom died in hospital after contracting the Covid virus while in legal custody. A preliminary hearing will

Douglas Ross KC, who early in his career was a legal adviser at the United Nations and served in Gaza, reviews an excellent new book on the region. Gaza has been at the forefront of international news for more than two years. Coverage has focused on the deadly attacks by Hamas and other armed groups