News

First Minister John Swinney has firmly ruled out a proposed ban on cats. The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWG) has suggested strict new measures on outdoor cats because of their "significant impact on wildlife populations", the BBC reports.

Lord Pentland was sworn in as lord president and lord justice general at the Court of Session yesterday. He said: “The solemn oaths I have just taken on my appointment as lord president of the Court of Session enshrine the fundamental values underpinning the judiciary: independence, impartiali

The review body for alleged miscarriages of justice in England and Wales is to assess an application from Lucy Letby, the English nurse convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more. Ms Letby, a former nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital, is currently serving 15 whole

The Advocate General for Scotland, Baroness Smith of Cluny KC, will deliver the Aberdeen Law Project's annual lecture this year. The lecture, which is being held on 21 March, serves as a platform for leading legal figures to share their expertise with students, professionals, and the wider public.

Disabling Barriers Scotland (DBS) is hosting an event entitled 'Creating a Culture of Belonging in the Scottish Legal Profession' featuring speakers Gillian Carty (partner and chair, Shepherd and Wedderburn), Lindsay Jack (head of diversity, careers and outreach, Law Society of Scotland) and Fraser

Judges in England and Wales have been told not to post about their jobs on social media amid rising online and physical threats, as the Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, launches a taskforce to improve judicial security. In a letter to judges, Baroness Carr said she was “increasingly concerne

The Right Honourable Lord Pentland has been sworn in as lord president and lord justice general.

The cops really do love doughnuts: a police union has come under fire after calling a man a “snitch” for posting a video of officers doing doughnuts in the snow. The video, recorded by Hamon Brown, showed officers in Houston, Texas, engaging in reckless driving during a snowstorm, despit

Davidson Chalmers Stewart has announced Henrietta Talbot as its latest partner.  Based in Moray, she joined the firm in 2022 as a director where she has worked with a broad spectrum of business clients, from land and estates engaging in rural diversification, through to substantial corporate bu

A new online platform aims to change how research and insights on community landownership are shared. The new website has been launched to provide a central hub for research and knowledge-sharing on community landownership, addressing longstanding issues of fragmented research and limited accessibil

I read with interest the article on the Scottish Law Agents Society survey run by Darren Murdoch. I will not be responding as I have not been in practice for almost 30 years – an era when regulation was a very different thing – and came off the roll over a decade ago. No locus? No skin i

The Scottish Legal Aid Board's Client Legal Services (CLS) Directorate has welcomed three trainee solicitors who will be the first to undertake a new traineeship in both civil and criminal law. The trio, Michael Addley, Taylor May and Rebecca Tennant, join Christina Cummings, who began her traineesh

The Scottish Young Lawyers' Association has announced that SYLA Football is back again this year thanks to the sponsorship of Nelson James Sheriff Officers. Location: EdinburghWhen: every Tuesday eveningTime: 8:00 PMFormat: five- or six-a-side

Kevin Kane has been named as the new chief executive of Shared Parenting Scotland. Mr Kane takes up the post after nearly six years as head of policy and research at YouthLink Scotland. Before that he was policy and research lead at Victim Support Scotland. He is also volunteer director and company

Lord Beckett is to succeed Lady Dorrian as lord justice clerk.  In his new role he will also hold the office of president of the Second Division of the Inner House and chair of the Scottish Sentencing Council.