News

A Supreme Court VAT ruling issued today in favour of care home operator Balhousie Holdings sets a significant precedent for UK businesses. The ruling – the culmination of a lengthy legal battle dating back to 2015 – hinged on the process by which Balhousie, owner of Scottish-based Balhou

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) has announced its plan to lay a reduced budget before Parliament next month. The budget will be accompanied by a five per cent reduction in the general levy paid for all lawyers and a 20 per cent reduction for all lawyers within their first three years

Senior leadership changes are set to take place tomorrow at Mitchells Roberton, Glasgow’s longest-established firm of solicitors. In an initial move towards retirement and after a long and distinguished career focused on property law, Donald Reid is stepping down as chairman and partner in the

People across Scotland can make non-essential journeys in their local authority area from Friday 2 April when a requirement to Stay Local will replace the Stay at Home rule. Hairdressers, garden centres, car showrooms and forecourts, homeware stores and non-essential click and collect services will

Dr Sandra Duffy comments on the High Court's ruling in AB v Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, the first case funded by the Good Law Project's Trans Defence Fund. In the case of AB v Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, heard before the High Court of England and Wales (Family Division), a challenge was ma

A survey of senior oil and gas sector legal managers has revealed a substantial number believe net zero actions, by shareholders, investors or activists, present a ‘real risk’ to their business. The Oil and Gas Disputes Survey, conducted by CMS, identified these and other forms of climat

Home Office officials have been accused by prominent barristers of breaching the civil service code by publishing a press release conflating "child rapists" with "failed asylum seekers". One Pump Court Chambers lodged a formal complaint with support from Garden Court Chambers, a number of immig

Dentons has won Scotland IP Transactions Firm of the Year at the Managing IP Awards 2021. It is the second year that Dentons has won this award, having come top in the same category in 2020. The Managing IP Awards took place virtually on 30 March 2021, run by Managing Intellectual Property magazine,

The WS Society Annual Exhibition for 2021 focuses on travel and place. Our team of academics, researchers and consultants have selected prints, guide books, works of local history, historic accounts of travel and ephemera to illustrate a wide variety of approaches to the subject, from the early eigh

Two lawyers have developed a hijab for Muslim advocates who struggle to find the right legal attire to wear in court. Karlia Lykourgou and Maryam Mir, barristers at Doughty Street Chambers, have developed a hijab for Muslim advocates who struggle to find the right legal attire to wear in court.

Benjamin Bestgen this week discusses violence against women. See his last primer here. One of the fundamental justifications for permitting an organised state, government and law enforcement to exist is that these institutions, and the people who serve in them, are meant to guarantee public safety.

The world's largest video game cheating ring, worth around €65 million, has been broken up by an unprecedented police operation. The Chinese crime group was responsible for designing and selling cheats for popular video games – including games played competitively in high-stakes tournamen

A “new media” journalist who observed part of the trial diet in the prosecution of former First Minister Alex Salmond for various sexual offences has been found by the High Court of Justiciary to be in contempt of court for disclosing information that could lead to the identifi

Professor Lorne Crerar CBE has been elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE). The 2021 fellows will join the RSE’s current roll of around 1,600 leading thinkers and practitioners from Scotland and beyond, whose work has a significant impact on our nation.

Like something out of Borges, Lord Stewart discusses the report of Thom v Black 1828 7 S 158 – his choice for the top entry in Session Cases. Nominate your favourite cases here. “The law on this subject cannot be better expressed than it is by Monkbarns in a work of fictio