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A petition lodged at Holyrood calls for an assurance from the Scottish government that non-statutory child advocacy services are properly regulated to ensure competence, transparency and accountability. Petitioners Martin Baker and Katherine Bailey write: "We believe any non-statutory child adv

A lawyer at Harper Macleod has told SLN of her passion for hockey and how confidence on the ice translated to success in law. Kate Gillies is a solicitor and the legal content writer for HM Connect, Harper Macleod's support and referral network for high street and rural law firms.

Police Scotland has spoken of its "disbelief" after pulling over a car almost entirely covered in thick snow.

A social rented sector tenant who was evicted from his property after pleading guilty to a drugs supply charge has had his appeal against recovery of possession refused by the Civil Division of the Sheriff Appeal Court.  It was argued on behalf of Daley George that it was not est

An independent inquiry into the malicious prosecution of two Rangers administrators will be undertaken, though not necessarily by a judge from outside of Scotland. The Lord Advocate, James Wolffe QC, has agreed that an inquiry should take place, but only after the various cases against him are resol

Gerard Sinclair, chief executive of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission is to retire in September. Mr Sinclair joined the commission in 2003 and will have served for over 18 years when he retires, which the commission believes makes him the longest serving chief executive of such an arm&rs

The UK government has been accused of an “utterly ridiculous” abuse of power for threatening to impose jail sentences of 10 years on travellers who break quarantine rules. Described as “misleading spin” that would never be enforced, by shadow attorney general Lord Falconer, t

Aberdein Considine has made a number of promotions across the firm. Six lawyers have been promoted to the position of senior solicitor in addition to a promotion to associate level.

Douglas J. Cusine responds to a letter on a proposed pardon for those executed for witchcraft in Scotland, made in reply to his original suggestion that the scheme was a waste of time.

There has been a huge rise in “authorised push payment” or “APP” fraud over recent years. The amounts involved in these scams can be significant, writes Gordon Deane. The High Court in England recently rejected a claim by a bank customer who fell victim to an APP fraud. A dis

Iain Young considers the year ahead in tax. One of the most hackneyed phrases found in articles written by lawyers is that in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. 

Legislation to increase the transparency of land ownership in Scotland has been passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament. The Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land regulations pave the way for the creation of a public database that will provide key information about those wh

A defendant was reprimanded yesterday after using his phone to take courtroom selfies and share them on Snapchat. Corey O'Brien, 23, was in Cork District Court in Ireland yesterday to face a charge of demanding money with menaces, having allegedly demanded €6,000 to satisfy a drug debt.

The Inner House of the Court of Session has allowed an appeal by a former tenant with severe learning difficulties against a payment order for rent arrears made against her and remitted her case back to the First-tier Tribunal Housing and Property Chamber.  The appellant, SW, arg

Prior to his apology to the Scottish Parliament yesterday the Lord Advocate gave welcome confirmation that the Duff and Phelps administrators' Clark and Whitehouse have indeed been paid £21 million in compensation and awarded £3m towards their legal costs as was widely rumoured and repor