News

A late judge's fine sense of humour has been warmly recalled in a letter to The Times. Mr Justice John Blofeld, a judge of the English High Court, passed away in November 2025 at the age of 93.

Irwin Mitchell has announced a two-year partnership with Cauda Equina Champions Charity to expand support for people living with Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES) throughout Scotland. Cauda Equina Syndrome is a rare spinal surgical emergency that, if not treated urgently, can lead to life-changing consequ

The fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the deaths of Christopher Stuchbury, Donald Dinnie and Brett McCullough commences today at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.  The purpose of an FAI includes determining the cause of death, the circumstances in which the death occurred, and to establish what reasonabl

Proposed reforms to the freedom of information (FOI) regime in Scotland are not workable, according to a new report published today by Holyrood’s Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee.   In its stage one report on the Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill, t

Burges Salmon has announced the appointment of four new partners, including two in Scotland, effective from 1 May 2026. This year’s partner appointments include Edinburgh-based Paula McGeady and Patrick Munro from the firm’s planning & compulsory purchase team.

The proposed restructure of England and Wales’ police forces is needed to deal with the reality of 21st century crime but the mistakes that beset the creation of Police Scotland must be avoided, according to a University of Dundee expert in the subject. Professor Megan O’Neill, chair of

A Russian court has inadvertently admitted that Ukraine sank the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet in a press release which was published online and then quickly removed. The Moskva sank in April 2022 after Ukrainian forces hit it with two missiles in what was widely reported as an enormous and unexpe

Racial inequality is prevalent when it comes to home ownership, and is a root cause of the UK’s decline in owner-occupiers, a new study reveals. The research, led by the University of Stirling, found that, compared to White, Indian and Pakistani communities, Black and Bangladeshi communities a

The average price of a property in Scotland in November 2025 was £193,000, an increase of 4.5 per cent when compared to November 2024, the latest House Price Index published by Registers of Scotland reveals.

A man who backed out of an agreement to purchase a home after its price plummeted has been ordered to pay nearly half of the expected sale price.

A manufacturer of paper packaging has been fined £433,333 after a worker suffered a severe skull fracture and permanent injuries when a 4.5-ton machine fell on him. Matthew King was working for Multi Packaging Solutions UK Limited at its East Kilbride site on 31 October 2023 when he was struck

The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has published a scathing report on French prisons and detention facilities. During this visit, the CPT visited 14 police and gendarmerie detention facilities, four prisons (Fleury-M

Our weekly round-up of human rights stories from around the world. Israeli prisons are akin to ‘torture camps’, Israeli rights group finds

The Criminal Justice Committee has set out the two positions of its members on support for the general principles of the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill, with four committee members in favour of the bill proceeding to stage two and four against. The bill, introduced by Ash Regan

The UK government has formally begun the process of repealing aspects of controversial Northern Ireland legacy legislation which were found to be incompatible with human rights law. A remedial order was introduced in Westminster yesterday to remove the immunity provisions and bar on new civil claims