News

The highest court in Japan has endorsed a ruling granting the country's longest-serving death row inmate a retrial. Iwao Hakamada, 84, has been on death row for more than 50 years after he was convicted of robbing and murdering his boss as well as the man's wife and two children.

A dozen people have been fined after breaking strict Covid-19 rules to play dominoes together in a restaurant. Police said they entered a restaurant in east London and found "a group of 12 people hiding in a dark room".

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has rejected an appeal by nine claimants, who were injured when a man broke into the hotel they were staying in, against a High Court decision that the hotel was not responsible in law for their injuries. Ohoud Al-Najar and eight other members

In our final edition of SLN before we take a much-needed break, we detail just some of the many stories of the difficult year that was 2020. In January lawyers gathered at the Signet Library in Edinburgh to hear from Philippe Sands QC on the plight of the Chagos Islanders and Britain's refusal to al

The Dean of Faculty threatened to withdraw from the Scottish government's legal team in its defence against Alex Salmond unless they brought an end to the case, new documents show. Roddy Dunlop QC said he would not continue 11 days before the government conceded that its investigation of the former

New legislation to make sure next year’s Scottish parliamentary election can take place fairly and safely during the coronavirus pandemic has been backed by MSPs. The poll is expected to go ahead as planned on 6 May and the Scottish General Election (Coronavirus) Bill – which has passed

Changes to the law to enhance and protect the welfare of animals have been introduced. If approved, the new legislation laid before the Scottish Parliament will update existing laws covering dog breeding and pet selling as well as introduce licensing for cat and rabbit breeders, animal rescue centre

Seven members of staff at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court are self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19. The Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS) said it was working with NHS Test and Protect and that those required to isolate are doing so.

US President Donald Trump has drawn international condemnation after granting pardons to four security guards who were tried and convicted for their role in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre. Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten, who worked for government contractor Blackwater,

This week Benjamin Bestgen looks at the legalities surrounding certain extracurricular activities. See last week's here. Every law student in the UK has probably heard of R v Brown [1993] UKHL 19 during their studies. The case concerned a group of men who had occasionally gathered for consensual, bu

Octopuses are thugs that will punch fish for no reason other than "spite", new research has found. A team led by Eduardo Sampaio, of the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre in Lisbon, found that the cephalopods would punch fish while they were working together to find food, The Times reports.

A woman who was injured during a two-week holiday to Turkey has successfully established that consumer regulations on the provision of package holidays applied to the booking she made with an ‘online travel agent’ for flights, accommodation, and hotel transfer.  Rosemary O’Don

The Scottish government's announcement that legal aid solicitors will benefit from a 10 per cent uplift in legal aid fees and access to a £9 million fund to help those experiencing hardship as a result of Covid-19 has received a cautious response. Following meetings with the Law Society of Sco

New powers and measures to align devolved Scottish law with European Union (EU) legislation after the end of the Brexit transition period have been backed by MSPs. The UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Bill – which has passed its final stage in the Scottish Par

The Scottish government has launched a consultation seeking views on potential improvements to the legal complaints system, within the current legislative framework of the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007. The government said there is a compelling case for the consideration of amen