News

The South of Scotland’s largest community buyout has been completed following one of the most ambitious community fundraising campaigns ever seen and paving the way for the creation of a vast new nature reserve in Dumfries and Galloway. The landmark agreement of £3.8 million for 5,200 ac

The Scottish Building Society (SBS) has announced a record £74 million increase in mortgage lending and a record £58m growth in savings balances. In a year the society described as “extreme conditions”, profit before tax increased by 34 per cent to £840,000.

In 2006, the law in Scotland changed to provide a greater level of protection to unmarried, cohabiting couples. The new legislation was welcomed and seen as a positive step forward by many; 15 years on, there is a great deal of debate around whether the law is still fit for purpose, writes Tom Quail

Vicky Crichton, director of public policy at the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, notes that the disruption caused by the pandemic has not resulted in a spike in complaints. This time last year all of our plans, our systems and our ways of working were thrown up in the air as we all tried to wo

Ashurst is to pay its staff a one-off bonus of at least £1,000 after a strong performance last year. Its most recent accounts show that the firm has 2,848 employees.

Nike has launched a trademark infringement lawsuit against artists who turned their trainers into "Satan Shoes" containing real human blood. Brooklyn art collective MSCHF has already sold all 666 pairs of its limited edition black-and-red trainers, which are modified Nike Air Max 97s.

The UK Supreme Court has determined that the predominantly female retail employees of a major supermarket are able to use the employment contracts of predominantly male depot employees as a valid comparison in their equal pay claim.  The claimants sought compensation from Asda Stores Ltd&n

Members of the House of Commons Justice Committee are “shocked and appalled” by the treatment of children at a privately run detention centre in Northamptonshire, they said in a report published today. The committee has called on the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to consider taking back

Scotland’s economy could completely regain lost ground within the next two years and outpace the UK-wide average, according to the latest economic forecasting from KPMG. It’s estimated the country’s economy took a 9.6 per cent hit in 2020, broadly in line with forecasts, as the pan

To mark the bicentenary of Session Cases, the Scottish Council of Law Reporting is running a poll to determine readers' top three cases. Today, former Lord President, Lord Hamilton explains the details of his top choice: Scottish Rights of Way and Recreation Society Limited v Macpherson 1887 14

Sarah Lilley reflects on her crash course in online lawyering precipitated by the first lockdown last March. In early March 2020 I walked out of Inverness Sheriff Court to make my way back to the office following a morning of court hearings. Inverness Castle, in which the sheriff court was housed fo

Hate crimes recorded against the police have risen over the past three years and comprise up to half of such charges in some areas, the Law Society Gazette reports. Fifty-three per cent of all cases dealt with by North Yorkshire Police in 2019/20 included a victim who was a police employee or office

Spain is set to legalise assisted dying, becoming the fifth country in Europe and the sixth in the world to allow terminally ill people to end their life. Legislation providing for the regulation of assisted dying was approved by Spanish MPs this month with 202 in favour, 141 against and two abstent

In the last financial year, the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Housing and Property Chamber closed 30 per cent more applications than the previous year. During the financial year 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, the chamber received 4,112 applications across all jurisdictions, a nine per cent increa

Macdonald Henderson has joined the International Commercial Law Alliance (ICLA), becoming its sole Scottish member. ICLA is a strategic group of law firms from around the world. Each member firm provides clients with legal and business advice in the jurisdiction in which the law firm is located.