News

Lord Tyre, Lord Boyd and Lady Wise have been appointed to the First Division of the Inner House of the Court of Session and will take up their appointments from 5 January 2022. The Lord President, Lord Carloway, and the Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian, recommended the appointments to allow court bu

Ian Forrester QC has returned to practice, having served as the UK nominated judge to the General Court of the European Union. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience for any instructions and expects to concentrate on advisory and arbitration work, including appointment as an arbitrator.

The Home Office’s so-called ‘turn around’ tactics in the English Channel have not been shown to have a clear legal basis, according to the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee. In a letter to the Home Secretary, published today, the committee expresses concerns around

The pandemic has forced separating families, and their lawyers, to work very differently over the past 18 months. Compounded by Brexit and general economic uncertainty, the future for family law, and those couples and families affected by it, may be unrecognisable by the end of the next decade, comp

A fund which helps provide practical help to victims of crime has reopened for applications. Open to any organisation that supports victims of crime, the Victim Surcharge Fund is used to provide direct help to victims.

3PB Barristers has welcomed Kevin McCallum QC, a former criminal defence solicitor and a procurator fiscal depute in Scotland, who specialises in criminal defence work, fatal accident inquiries and inquests. He will work from its Inner Temple offices in London. In recent times he has obtained qualif

Themis Advocates' Steven Walker QC has been appointed arbitrator member of the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration. He is an international commercial lawyer with a specialisation in international arbitration, energy, oil & gas, mining, commercial/corporate/financial disputes, construction an

The codes of conduct for councillors and members of devolved public bodies in Scotland have been updated to make it clear that behaviour such as bullying and harassment is completely unacceptable. Provisions relating to the acceptance of gifts and hospitality have also been tightened to ensure that

Professor Konstantinos Sergakis has been appointed as a member of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESMA, EIOPA, EBA) Board of Appeal. The board is responsible for deciding on appeals against certain decisions of the authorities and its decisions can themselves be appealed to the Court of Justic

Rohingya refugees in the UK and US are suing social media giant Facebook for $150 billion over allegations that the platform helped to promote violence against the minority group in Myanmar. Facebook previously apologised in 2018 for not "doing enough to help prevent our platform from being used to

The Lawscot Foundation has partnered with Hey Legal and Buddies Gin to give last minute shoppers the opportunity to buy unique gifts for the animal lovers, gin sippers and legal buffs in their lives. Paisley company Buddies Gin has produced an exclusive run of 100 limited-edition bottles of gin to c

Cannabis taxes have been suspended in San Francisco to help legal dispensaries compete with black market drug dealers. The tax was due to come into force at the start of 2022 but will now be suspended until 31 December 2022 to support cannabis businesses, the San Francisco Examiner reports.

A secondary school teacher who was hit on the head by a wooden partition while teaching at a school in Dundee has failed to prove before the Outer House of the Court of Session that his mental health deteriorated as a result of the accident. Fenrir Thorvaldsen claimed that the accident had left him

The Joint Committee on Human Rights has called on the government to amend proposals in the Judicial Review and Courts Bill which could deny judicial remedies and remove a safeguard against flawed asylum decisions. The bill proposes changes to the courts’ power to make ‘quashing orders&rs

A fatal accident inquiry is to be held into the deaths of Lamara Bell and John Yuill more than six years after they died in an accident on the M9. The announcement follows the news that a £1 million payout has been made to the family of Lamara Bell by Police Scotland.