News

The final court order in a judicial review brought by the Good Law Project has found that Prime Minister Boris Johnson misled MPs when he said all Covid-19 contracts were "on the record for everybody to see". The High Court in London ruled last month that Health Secretary Matt Hancock had acted unla

Nicola Buchanan has joined Scullion LAW as a senior associate. Ms Buchanan has been practising exclusively in the field of family law since 2005. She specialises in divorce, financial provision, cohabitation, contact/residence disputes and relocation cases as well as the preparation and negotiation

Following the recent formation of the New Homes Quality Board to put the New Homes Ombudsman Service into place, a Scottish construction solicitor has urged the board to give the ombudsman wide regulatory powers and include consumers who instruct works to refurbish, redesign or extend their exi

Early adopters of sustainable practices, including retrofit programmes, may be better placed to reap future benefits, writes Sheelagh Cooley. In the year that Glasgow hosts the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), UK law firm Shoosmiths joined over 120 other UK businesses committing to

More than half a million pounds has been awarded to eight projects working to deliver more support to people living with drug addiction. Each of the eight projects will use their share of the £514,000 of investment to increase staffing levels in their work with people with multiple complex nee

An Italian mafia boss who swapped drug smuggling for the dole queue has been arrested. Police believe Giuseppe Refrigeri, 66, is a leader of the Banda della Marranella, which allegedly has a virtual monopoly on the drugs trade in Rome.

The High Court of Justiciary has refused six conjoined appeals against conviction by a group of men convicted of conspiring to murder a family in Glasgow. Brian Ferguson, Andrew Gallacher, Robert Pickett, Andrew Sinclair, John Hardie, and Peter Bain were sente

Most drugs are not inherently dangerous when used casually and drug interventions that are punitive and reinforce criminal identity are ineffective, according to a new paper. In a report for the Scottish government that looks at the drugs laws of five countries, it was found that the hierarchy of ha

Liberal Democrat Peer Sir Ming Campbell QC has suggested that the Crown Office should be headed by someone similar to the director of public prosecutions in England and Wales, following a survey by Scottish Legal News on the dual role of the Lord Advocate. Sir Ming told The Herald on Sunday that it

BTO has appointed Gregor Mitchell as head of its private client team based in Edinburgh to further enhance the firm’s legal services provided to individuals. A recognised expert in private client law, he brings over 30 years of experience advising individuals in relation to wills, trusts, esta

Judges will be allowed to remain on the bench until the age of 75 in a move to address the recruitment crisis in the judiciary. Ministers are to raise the mandatory retirement age as concern grows over the refusenik trend at the bar and ebbing morale amongst judges. A recent survey found many were c

Harper Macleod successfully defended a client at the East London Employment Tribunal in an unfair dismissal claim brought by an ex-employee who was dismissed for gross misconduct for refusing to wear a mask on a supplier's site as part of Covid-19 health and safety rules. This has been reported as t

Mergers are often a topic that charity trustees would rather avoid. Yet it’s one that some in Scotland are now considering as they look to a future shaped by the legacy of Covid-19, writes Alastair Keatinge. As we close in on the first anniversary of Lockdown One, only now are we starting

The UK government has ordered a review of the exemption of domestic workers from minimum wage legislation following an Employment Tribunal ruling. A tribunal ruled in December that the exemption is discriminatory against women, who are far more likely to be employed as live-in domestic workers than

Extra funding to services supporting victims of crime and to improve public understanding of stalking offences has been announced by Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf. The £137,000 funding, made up of one-off grants, includes funding to cover additional costs incurred during the Covid-19 lockdown