News

Paul Motion considers live streaming where the individual is innocent. On 15 July 2020 the UK Supreme Court gave judgement in Sutherland v HMA [2020] UKSC 32. Mr Sutherland was the subject of a “sting” by a “paedophile vigilante” group. He exchanged messages and photographs w

A pensioner is to appear in court next month accused of murdering a woman and her son more than 40 years ago. William Macdowell, 77, is accused of killing Renee Macrae, 36, and her three-year-old toddler Andrew in 1976.

Compass Chambers is delighted to announce the appointment of new silks, Amber Galbraith QC and Barry Smith QC. They have been appointed by Her Majesty The Queen on the recommendation of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, having been nominated by the Lord President.

A law student has successfully secured 1.5 times the value of a tenant's deposit after a local landlord failed to protect the deposit in a scheme. Ruth Dale, a member of the Aberdeen Law Project, represented her client in the First-tier Tribunal before going on to defeat the landlord's appeal a

Irish barrister Paul McGarry SC explores the opportunities for Irish lawyers following the UK's exit from the EU. The sabre-rattling by the UK government over the Northern Ireland Protocol has again brought the debate about the future arrangements between the EU and the UK into sharp focus. But no m

CMS has published its latest report in its General Counsel (GC) "Creating connections, bridging gaps" series, produced in partnership with the European Company Lawyers Association (ECLA). The new report considers how GCs can build strategies to develop and succeed as a GC, especially amid the c

A woman who married a tree has marked their first wedding anniversary, The Mirror reports. Kate Cunningham, 38, who took the surname "Elder" upon marrying an elder tree said they have no plans to divorce.

An asylum seeker who claimed to fear persecution from a criminal gang in El Salvador has succeeded in challenging the finding of the Upper Tribunal that there were no arguable grounds of appeal against the original decision.  The petitioner, MF, argued that the First-tier Tribunal judge ha

Richard Keen is widely respected in Scotland for possessing one of the sharpest legal minds of his generation. A brilliant career at the bar led to his election as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates and ultimately to his appointment as Advocate General for Scotland in the UK government. But he now fin

Pressure is growing in the Advocate General for Scotland, Lord Keen of Elie QC, to refuse to give his consent to the proposed UK Internal Market Bill. The bill allows ministers to “disapply” rules agreed over the goods that cross between Britain and Northern Ireland. Section 45(1) of the

A pilot initiative at Hamilton Sheriff Court has been agreed upon in order to help reduce the backlog of summary court cases. The initiative aims to reduce the length of trials, and how many cases proceed to a trial, by encouraging early discussions between defence and prosecution to identify cases

The quantification of damages in the wrongful prosecution of Rangers administrators will not be affected by causation, counsel for the Lord Advocate has said. Gerry Moynihan QC told Lord Tyre in the Outer House on Friday that causation would not affect how much David Whitehouse and Paul Clark would

Former Attorney General Geoffrey Cox QC has threatened to rebel in a crucial government vote after calling it "unconscionable" for the UK to break its treaty commitment to the EU. Last week, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told MPs that provisions in the Internal Market Bill would "break in

Professor Peter Watson, solicitor advocate at PBW Law, has written to the Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC on behalf of two families who lost loved ones in the COVID-19 outbreak at Home Farm Care Home on Skye, requesting full consideration of whether a crime was committed by the operators of

The Inner House at the Court of Session has upheld a decision made by the Crofting Commission denying crofters permission to erect land-based wind turbines on the grounds that the result would be "detrimental to the interests of the land owners". The crofters, living near Stornoway on the Isle of Le