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An environmental lawyer has been fined £5,000 after being found in contempt for leaking the UK Supreme Court's judgment in a case concerning the expansion of Heathrow Airport. Tim Crosland has become the first person to ever be tried and found in contempt by the Supreme Court.

Inheritance, estate and gift taxes could play a stronger role in addressing inequality and improving public finances, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Inheritance taxation can be an important instrument to address inequality, particularly in the cu

Shepherd and Wedderburn has been awarded the highest attainable accreditations as an Investor in People (IIP) and Investor in Young People (IIYP). The ‘Platinum’ accreditation as an IIP and ‘Gold’ accreditation as an IIYP, awarded by Investors in People, follow an independent

The UK government is reportedly exploring plans to create a national repository of written judgments from the English and Welsh courts. There is currently no single comprehensive repository of judgments, though a wide selection of judgments are published by the British and Irish Legal Information In

In the 53rd and bonus addition to the jurisprudential primer series, Kapil Summan discusses the debate around the 'not proven' verdict and the views of its supporters and detractors. Thanks are due to Benjamin Bestgen and Dr Brian Barry, of Technological University Dublin, with whom the author had u

Police officers have gone on strike over a shortage of trousers. Officers in El Puerto de Santa Maria in the south of Spain say they should have received new service trousers in 2016.

The operators of telecommunications equipment located on land leased from a North Lanarkshire farmer have successfully appealed against a Lands Tribunal for Scotland decision that there was no basis for the termination of an agreement based on a non-current statutory code before the Inner House

Independent law firm Morton Fraser has announced the appointment of Jenny Dickson as its new chairman, succeeding Maggie Moodie. Ms Dickson, a partner in the firm's litigation team, replaces Ms Moodie as both chair of the firm and leader of its public sector practice following her retirement in Apri

The Scottish courts should make greater use of video-link technology to reduce the number of people in custody being brought to court for short procedural appearances, prison inspectors have said. In a new report, HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland (HMIPS) said there had been an increase in cou

Landmark legislation to regulate social media companies and search engines will be announced in the Queen's Speech this week, according to reports. The UK government will bring forward an Online Safety Bill placing a duty of care on major online services and bringing them under the oversight of Ofco

Further legislation incorporating international conventions into Scots law could also face legal challenges, warns Andrew Stevenson. It is vital to ensure prudent management of taxpayers’ money that authorities act within their powers (intra vires). Had they done so, numerous UK local authorit

The civil justice system also has its part to play in tackling the climate emergency, writes John Sturrock QC. CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is at record levels, higher than for 3 million years. According to the former Governor of the Bank of England, and now UN special envoy on climate action

Irregularities in the appointment of judges to Poland's top court precluded an applicant company's right to a "tribunal established in law", the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled. In a unanimous judgment handed down last week, the ECtHR noted that three judges of the Constitutional Co

An Italian judge who was murdered by the mafia 30 years ago has become the first judge to be beatified as a martyr in the history of the Catholic Church. Rosario Livatino, who was shot and killed in 1990 by gunmen hired by the Stidda and Cosa Nostra crime syndicates, was beatified in Sicily on Sunda

World markets are very difficult to predict, and predicting the fortunes of a single company or stock is almost impossible. As consumer choices determine the success of a product, and with human nature being unpredictable and inconsistent, selecting the ‘right’ stock to buy is certainly