News

A soldier in the United States Space Force has been demoted after he abandoned training to buy a PlayStation 5. When contacted by his superior, he replied: “Yolo, PS5 > letters of discipline.”

The Sheriff Appeal Court (Civil Division) has refused an appeal by a mother against the decision to grant a permanence order in respect of her 10-year-old son, Z, to allow him to stay with his maternal grandparents. The order was originally sought by Scottish Borders Council to a

The Scottish Law Commission and the Law Commission of England and Wales have today announced landmark proposals that will seek to ensure the safety of self-driving vehicles via a comprehensive new legal framework. Hailed as “leading the way on the regulation of this technology” by transp

The Scottish Sentencing Council has today published two reports: on sentence discounting and environmental and wildlife crime. Sentence discounting is the term commonly given to the practice of reducing a sentence when an accused pleads guilty. In Scotland, the court is required by law to consider a

Aberdein Considine has appointed Greig Brown as mortgage operations director. Mr Brown, who brings almost 20 years’ experience in financial services, joins Aberdein Considine from Mortgage Advice Bureau in Scotland where he was head of operations.

The Justice Sub-Committee on Policing has issued a call for views on the report by Dame Elish Angiolini on police complaints handling.

Ampersand's Fiona Drysdale has been appointed as an advocate member of the Access to Justice Committee of the Scottish Civil Justice Council. She is deputy clerk of the Faculty of Advocates and clerk to the board of examiners. She is also an advocacy skills instructor on the advocates’ tr

A new panel of standing junior counsel to the Scottish government sees Paul Reid appointed as first standing junior. The role of second standing junior is taken by Lesley Irvine, while another 19 members of Faculty and a solicitor advocate complete the list.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) assessment of changes in the legal services sector since its market study has found some positive developments – but concludes that more progress is needed. The review follows recommendations made in 2016 after the CMA conducted a market study of the

Businessmen who were maliciously prosecuted as part of a fraud investigation into Rangers FC have accepted settlements thought to be worth millions of pounds each. David Whitehouse and Paul Clark were appointed as administrators of Rangers in February 2012 and the club was liquidated in October that

An early day motion has been tabled by SNP MPs calling on the UK government to introduce legislative proposals to prohibit the resale of gaming consoles and computer components at excessive prices and to make the resale of goods purchased using automated bots illegal. The motion follows the release

A couple will have to pay for disposing of their son's collection of pornography magazines, a court has said. David Werking, 42, sued his parents, Beth and Paul Werking, after his "trove of pornography and an array of sex toys" were thrown out, MLive reports.

An English judge has awarded a German artist £36,500 in damages after her vehicle was unlawfully sold by Welsh police before she was able to recover it. The Chief Constable of North Wales Police refused to allow Astrid Linse to recover her Mercedes-Benz Unimog truck in 2019, eve

MI6 may have unilaterally assumed the power to authorise agents to commit crimes in the UK, a court has heard. Reprieve, the Pat Finucane Centre, Privacy International, and the Committee on the Administration of Justice have been challenging a secret policy under which MI5 authorises covert agents,

Aidan O’Neill QC was called to the bar of Ireland this morning by the country's most senior judge, Chief Justice Frank Clarke. Mr O'Neill's legal practice now covers three jurisdictions: Scotland, England & Wales, and Ireland. He is a member of Ampersand Advocates in Scotland and of Matrix