News

Social media companies will face fines of billions of pounds for failing to tackle harmful content under new UK government plans, but criminal offences targeting executives will not immediately be introduced.

Six new members have been appointed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's Scotland Committee. Mariam Ahmed, Charlie McMillan, Lindsey Millen and Tatora Mukushi take up their posts in the new year while Johanna Boyd and Peter Kelly will join the committee in January 2022.

The overall level of new cases registered is 69 per cent of the average monthly pre-Covid level, the latest Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) data show. This shows the volumes of cases being progressed each month in the High Court, Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Courts f

On 22 January 2021, mediation business Core celebrates the 20th anniversary of its very first event: Communicate to Persuade, which took place in the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Core Founder John Sturrock QC delivered the training day with his good friend and colleague at the bar, the late Mike Jone

"If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out" and if he breaks another's bone, his shall be broken. So states Hammurabi's Code, an ancient exemplar of the precept of lex talionis. Why is revenge so compelling? Benjamin Bestgen explains all. See his last jurisprudential primer h

A police drugs-squad raided a house in Peru dressed as Santa and an elf.

A Bill of Advocation by the Procurator Fiscal, Glasgow challenging the refusal of a sheriff’s motion to adjourn a trial to secure the attendance of an essential witness has succeeded in the Sheriff Appeal Court (Criminal Division). The respondent, Robert McIntyre, was charg

A series of recommendations to the Hate Crime Bill made by Holyrood's Justice Committee have been accepted by the Scottish government ahead of its stage 1 debate. These include:

A solicitor and part-time sheriff has been found guilty of professional misconduct. Mark Thorley was censured by the Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal (SSDT) for his behaviour in a dispute between a couple over property.

Regulations to restrict both the sale of fireworks and the times when they can be set off by the general public will be introduced for Parliament to consider in the new year. Community safety minister Ash Denham announced the move as she published the Scottish government’s response to the

A survey carried out by the Law Society of Scotland ahead of the 26th UN Conference on Climate Change (COP26) shows that climate change raises a number of issues for the legal profession. This includes practical issues around the conference itself, which is likely to impact on local businesses and t

Ireland's data protection watchdog has imposed a €450,000 fine on Twitter following a landmark inquiry regarding a data breach. The Data Protection Commission found that the social media giant infringed Article 33(1) and 33(5) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in terms of a fa

An intellectual property associate at Thorntons has qualified as a chartered trade mark attorney and will now head up the firm’s in-house trade mark agency. Kirsty Stewart joined Thorntons in 2014 following her traineeship and works within the intellectual property, technology and media team.

Lawrie IP is celebrating its tenth anniversary with an increase in turnover to around £2.7 million in the 12 months to June 2020, from £2.2m in the previous 12 months. The Glasgow-headquartered firm has grown from one person in 2010, founder Dr Donald Lawrie, to 28 employees. 

Criminal solicitors Anna MacKay and Lucy McKenna have joined Scullion LAW. Ms MacKay, who joins as an associate, has specialised in criminal defence since qualifying in 2012. She trained as a prosecutor with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and also worked for prosecutors at the Intern