News

An entire police station is under investigation after officers and civilian staff used their building for an illegal late-night party. One video circulating on social media shows the officers and staff at the major police station in Paris dancing the Macarena at 3am without face masks.

An action by the lessee of a storage unit located on a former poultry farm that was destroyed by a fire in 2016 has been dismissed by a sheriff. Philip Samson rented a unit at the Turkeytorium, formerly Fenton Barns Farm, owned by DC Watson & Sons (Fenton Barns) Ltd, and sought damages for loss

Tayside legal and estate agency firm Miller Hendry has announced three promotions and a new appointment at its Perth and Dundee offices. Lindsay Kirkwood has been promoted to associate in the private client team in Dundee, while Michael Johnston and Samera Ali have been promoted to senior solicitors

Mountain hares in Scotland will gain greater legal protection under regulations introduced to the Scottish Parliament today. From 1 March 2021, it will be illegal to intentionally kill, injure or take mountain hares at any time unless a licence is obtained.

Eamon Keane responds to Alistair Bonnington on the Scottish Parliament's Salmond inquiry. I wish to comment upon one matter, related to evidence and procedure, raised in Alistair Bonnington’s opinion piece, in which he is, in my opinion, wholly incorrect. Namely, his assertions about the inte

Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA trade union, which represents Scottish government civil servants and prosecutors, responds to Alistair Bonnington on the Salmond inquiry. Many of you will have views on the evidence and issues that have been dealt with by the Committee on the Scottish Govern

Juries should be cut from 12 members to seven in order to clear the Covid-19 backlog of criminal cases in England and Wales, Labour has said. The call follows a joint report from the police, prosecutors, prisons and probation inspectorates, which said the "unprecedented and very serious" backlog in

Benjamin Bestgen examines the impact of "respectability" in criminal trials. See last week's jurisprudential primer here. Tropes like the “Gentleman Thief” pick up on the allure of the white-collar criminal: a person who appears respectable, educated, even charming. A worldly, cleve

Facial recognition technology amplifies racist policing and threatens the right to protest, campaigners have warned as they launch a global campaign against its use. The new Ban the Scan campaign, launched by Amnesty International, will begin in New York City before expanding to focus on the use of

Rape victims from an ethnic minority background are significantly less likely to see their case lead to prosecutions or convictions, according to a new research paper. In a newly-published report, psychologists at Middlesex University call on the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to improve its guidan

Pet owners are being asked to register their dog's unique "noseprint" with city authorities in a pilot aimed at reducing pet insurance fraud. The initiative in Hangzhou, in eastern China, requires pet owners to use an app to upload a picture of their dog's nose in exchange for a digital ID card.

A man serving a life sentence for murder after striking a man with a machete outside a Glasgow pub has had his appeal against conviction refused. David Callaghan appealed on the ground that the trial judge did not direct the jury that the confession of his co-accused to his participation on the atta

Edinburgh property lawyer Andrew Diamond has been appointed as the new chairman of ESPC. Mr Diamond, a partner and head of residential property at Lindsays, has worked in the residential property sector for nearly three decades and has been a non-executive director of ESPC for more than five years.

Equality legislation and policymaking should be fully devolved to the Scottish Parliament to help create a gender-equal Scotland, Scottish government advisers have said. The third report from the First Minister's National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG) argues the need for devolution thr

The University of Stirling has announced a new strategic partnership with global law firm Ashurst. The partnership with the University’s Law School will focus on developing the next generation of "NewLaw professionals", by bringing the evolution of the legal sector and the associated new caree