News

The laws around surrogacy are outdated and should be improved to better support the child, surrogates and intended parents, the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission have announced today. Surrogacy is where a woman bears a child on behalf of someone else or a couple, wh

A human rights body has expressed disappointment with the Scottish government's response to a Holyrood committee's recommendations on revising the legal framework surrounding cyber kiosks. Writing in response to John Finnie, convener of the Justice Sub-Committee on Policing, Justice Secretary H

Regular building inspections, the establishment of compulsory owners’ associations and building reserve funds should be written into legislation to protect the future of Scotland’s tenement buildings, a new report argues. The report has been published by the Working Group on Maintenance

MSPs on Holyrood’s Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee have today proposed the introduction of a committee bill which would limit pre-release access (PRA) that Scottish government ministers and officials currently have to key economic data. PRA is the practice of making official statistics

Aberdein Considine has promoted Jennifer Matthew to associate. Ms Matthew joined Aberdein Considine’s flagship legal office in Edinburgh in April 2018 and has played a key role in the growth of the firm’s commercial litigation business across the central belt.

Watermans has moved into a new, larger office on Leith’s Dock Street in Edinburgh.

The UK Supreme Court has begun hearing a legal challenge brought by a district judge seeking to extend whistleblowing rights to the judiciary in England and Wales. Judge Claire Gilham said she was bullied to the point of breakdown after speaking out about the impact of legal aid cuts while a distric

The artist Jack Vettriano has succeeded in a legal fight to crack down on a forgery gang trying to profit from his work. Mr Vettriano, 67, took legal advice after a website was established using his name to sell fakes, The Times reports.

Community safety minister Ash Denham MSP is hosting a ministerial summit and reception to celebrate 100 years of women in law on Monday 10th June at Parliament Hall, Edinburgh. Speakers include Ms Denham, Lorna Jack, Alison di Rollo QC, Angela Grahame QC, Amanda Millar amongst many others.

Dentons has announced its unaudited, headline financial results for the UK & Middle East region during the financial year to 30 April 2019. Revenue at the firm was £229.8 million, an increase of 13 per cent on 17/18 (£203.1m). Revenues have risen 48 per cent since 2014/15.

High Court judges are to be given a salary boost in an attempt to stem the judicial recruitment crisis, The Guardian reports. The move from Justice Secretary David Gauke is meant to plug the gap on the High Court bench, where more than a tenth of posts lie vacant.

Amazon's voice-activated virtual assistant, Alexa, could be recruited into the fight against terrorism under plans backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Germany's interior ministry is pushing for new laws to allow federal and regional authorities to access "the data captured by these devices".

The Crown has successfully challenged the sentence of detention in a young offenders’ institution imposed on a 16-year-old boy convicted of sex offences. The High Court of Justiciary Appeal Court upheld the Lord Advocate’s submission, which was adopted by the responde

There is no basis for the belief that abolishing the ‘not proven’ verdict in Scots law will lead to more people being found guilty of rape and could in fact result in "rogue convictions", leading criminal lawyers have told Scottish Legal News. Responding to Gordon Jackson QC’s sugg

A judge has warned that plans to increase the presumption against short sentences to 12 months could affect those currently sentenced to 18 months, The Herald reports. Lord Turnbull, a former chairman of the Scottish Sentencing Council, told the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee that because a