News

Alastair K Shepherd reflects on the traineeship he began in 1981 as he retires this month, having spent four decades in the law. I am retiring from private practice with Coulters Legal LLP on 30 April 2021, forty years after I started my legal career as one of the first batch of trainees. We had bee

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) has confirmed that the scheduled resumption of Sheriff Court summary criminal business will go ahead from Monday 19 April. The majority of summary trials in the Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court had been adjourned since January due to lockd

Jennifer Stewart details an interesting case on an employee's refusal to wear a mask and his subsequent dismissal. Spring is in the air; the vaccination programme is well under way and with the increasing relaxation of restrictions over the next few weeks, things are edging closer to some semblance

The UN's human rights chief has urged Westminster politicians to amend a controversial bill which would protect some British soldiers from prosecution for suspected war crimes overseas. The Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill is reaching its final stages in the legislative proc

Two LLB students and the GCU Law Clinic have been shortlisted for the Glasgow Caledonian University STAR Awards. The STAR Awards are an annual celebration event held by the Students’ Association to recognise and celebrate the hard work of volunteers and student groups. Lucy Mackay, GCU Law Cli

While many started their traineeships during the pandemic, Anna Reilly was also seconded during it. When I began my traineeship at Morton Fraser, I did not expect to have the opportunity to work directly for the Government Legal Service for Scotland (GLSS), not least in the midst of a pandemic.

French police are cracking down on secret restaurants where wealthy diners have been eating and drinking in breach of Covid-19 restrictions. The boss of one underground restaurant in Paris was arrested last week and over 110 of its guerrilla gastronomes were fined, TheLocal.fr reports.

A man who was charged with offences under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 allegedly committed on online social media platforms has failed to challenge the competency of the three charges brought against him in an appeal under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Ac

With great power comes great responsibility. I know that this quote is most often attributed (wrongly) to Spider-Man. Perhaps it has its true genesis in Luke 12:48, but for present purposes the hint of superpower is apt.

Sheriff Alison Stirling chooses as her top Session Case one of Scotland's most high profile criminal appeals of recent times: Fraser v HM Advocate 2011 SC (UKSC) 113, 2014 JC 115. Vote for your top three Session Cases here. In addition to reporting cases illustrating groundbreaking le

The UK is poised to win support from Brussels to join a European legal cooperation pact. EU diplomats expect the European Commission to approve Britain's application to join the Lugano Convention today. The accord determines jurisdiction when it comes to cross-border civil cases.

We have all heard of the gender pay gap but less is said of the gender pension gap: the difference in the retirement income of men and women, writes Amanda Jack. The gender pension gap is close to home for me, as my mum has fallen victim to it. My dad was the main earner in the house and frequently

Irwin Mitchell is reportedly considering a stock market flotation which would make it the most valuable legal services company on the London Stock Exchange. The Sheffield-based firm, which has 15 offices across Great Britain including one in Glasgow, has been working with investment bankers at Roths

The Scottish Civil Justice Council has published its April Update newsletter. The April edition includes information on the council's recent activity, ongoing work, new rules, committee activity and appointments.

There is a record level of business optimism amongst the UK’s finance leaders, according to a new report from Deloitte. The UK CFO Survey Q1 2021 released today reports that CFOs anticipate a strong recovery in profits over the next 12 months, with expectations back to the previous high s