News

Hundreds of police dogs trained to sniff out illegal drugs are enjoying early retirement following the legalisation of cannabis across swathes of the United States. Cannabis is now legal for recreational use in 17 states and in Washington, D.C., and has been decriminalised in a further 13 states.

David J Black explores the dangers of orthodoxy in the first in a four-part medico-legal series. "Orthodoxy" wrote Bertrand Russell "is the death of intelligence". Before placing this in a medico-legal context with specific reference to the 2009 case Fraser and another v The National Institute of Cl

The manufacturers of Hendrick’s gin have succeeded in obtaining interim interdict in an action for trade mark infringement against a popular discount supermarket after it redesigned one of its ‘own-label’ products to more closely resemble their product. William Grant and Sons Irish

Two lawyers have been appointed to director posts at the Faculty of Advocates. Astrid Smart QC of Compass Chambers has been made director of quality assurance while Hugh Olson of Arnot Manderson Advocates will take over as director of training and education in July.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have pressed the First Minister over the proposed splitting of the Lord Advocate's role. Justice spokesperson Liam McArthur also mentioned removing the administration of fatal accident inquiries from the Crown Office in order to end the series of “scandalous&rdqu

Jackson Boyd has announced a number of promotions. Laura Macdonald, who has been with the firm for over 12 years, has been made a partner in the employment team, which she currently leads.

Scottish solicitors have voted to approve a practising certificate fee for 2021-22 of 10 per cent less than the pre-pandemic cost in 2019-20. The proposal was put forward by the Law Society’s Council in April and is the second phase of a package of financial support announced in 2020, worth a

A rape complainant in Italy suffered a violation of her ECHR rights after she was re-victimised in court. In its judgment in the case of J.L. v. Italy, the European Court of Human Rights held, by six votes to one, that there had been a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private life and pe

The UK has imposed its first asset freezes and travel bans under a new sanctions regime targeted at individuals and entities suspected of corruption and bribery overseas, writes Tom Stocker. The first list of those targeted by the 2021 Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations includes 22 individ

Chiara Pieri has been elected president of the Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association following its AGM yesterday. Miss Pieri, a solicitor with Shepherd and Wedderburn, has spent the last two years as vice president of the association.

Lawmakers around the world should include “sunset clauses” in legislation to ensure Covid-19 health status certificates are only used during the pandemic, a new study says. Safeguards should be in place to guarantee against the risks posed to people’s privacy and human rights by ne

A campaign has been launched calling on Edinburgh Council to commission a memorial for Derek Ogg QC, who passed away last May at the age of 65. The petition has been created by Scott Glanville and urges the council to "fund and commission a memorial to honour the memory of Derek Ogg".

Temporary measures to protect people experiencing homelessness from Covid-19 have been extended for three months. The public health measures allow local authorities to use hotels and B&Bs to accommodate people experiencing homelessness and to keep them safe during the pandemic. They were due to

Emergency services have pleaded with members of the public to stop reporting the sound of periodical cicadas re-emerging after 17 years underground in order to mate. Officials in the US state of Georgia have received multiple reports of "alarms" that turned out to be the songs of the Brood X cicadas

A sheriff in Edinburgh has found that two children of a divorcing couple should be moved from their English private school to a Scottish state school after she refused to make either party liable for their children’s school fees. The parties, who remained anonymous, were married in Scotland in