News

The Law Society of Scotland has announced it will defer work on regulating new non-solicitor owned legal businesses for two years. It said this will allow it to focus on the "required significant changes" to improve the current complaints system for the benefit of consumers of legal services, and to

The Scottish Arbitration centre has launched Mediation Rules in advance of it providing an administered mediation service. The announcement was made during the Edinburgh International Arbitration Festival (ArbFest2025).

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has shared its updated code of practice for services, public functions and associations with the Minister for Women and Equalities for approval. As Britain’s independent equality regulator, it is the role of the EHRC to provide expert advice on h

The Scottish government aims to protect marine biodiversity and conserve the marine ecosystem. Under new rules, the Offshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing Methods) (Scotland) Order 2025, the use of specified fishing gear would be restricted across the whole of five protected areas and would be res

Services helping women affected by drugs and preventing substance use by young people are to benefit from more than £2 million funding. Minister for drugs policy Maree Todd announced the support during a statement to the Scottish Parliament on the National Records of Scotland latest statistics

A lawyer who shares his name with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is suing the social media platform for repeatedly deactivating his account. In eight years, Mark Steven Zuckerberg, a bankruptcy lawyer in Indianapolis, has seen his official Facebook page suspended five times and his personal profil

Our weekly round-up of human rights stories from around the world. Jimmy Lai risks dying in jail, legal team warns UN | The Times (paywall)

Anti-pickpocket activists in Venice have found themselves reported to the police for stalking and unauthorised filming of alleged pickpockets. A crime wave in the tourist hotspot has prompted calls for a crackdown by police – as well as the appearance of activist groups who follow and film sus

Matheson Lawson has added solicitor Donna Carson as director to spearhead its new commercial property department. The firm, established earlier this year by Maureen Matheson and Victoria Lawson, was launched with a focus on private client services and residential conveyancing. The expansion into com

Three leading Palestinian human rights groups have been sanctioned by the Trump administration for having engaged with the International Criminal Court (ICC) as it investigates Israeli war crimes. Al-Haq, which is based in the West Bank, has been targeted alongside the Gaza-based Al Mezan Center for

Widespread misreporting on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is fuelling calls for the UK to withdraw from the treaty, researchers have found. A new report from the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, based in Oxford University’s Faculty of Law, examined how the ECHR is represente

A legal case against Celtic brought by victims of historical sexual abuse has concluded with settlements totalling more than £1 million. The payout has been shared among 24 former Celtic Boys Club players, while three cases will continue individually. Settlement terms have not been disclosed,

More than three quarters of people (77 per cent) who shared their experiences with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry said the scandal impacted their health significantly, according to a newly published paper. The stories, published as part of In Your Own Words, the inquiry’s listening project

TC Young has welcomed five new trainee solicitors to its Glasgow and Edinburgh offices.  The new trainees are:

There is a crucial lack of pace and breadth in Scotland’s land reform strategies according to a new coalition of organisations representing community groups, environmental bodies and land reformers from across the country. As the Parliament returns after summer recess, and with stage three of