News

A local authority has been granted an interdict against the sale of a farm in West Calder on the basis that a right of pre-emption contained in a feu disposition had survived the abolition of feudal tenure in Scotland. West Lothian Council raised the action against the executors of George

Scottish Labour has expressed 'serious reservations' over the Scottish government's proposed Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill. Justice spokesperson James Kelly's submission to the Justice Committee in response to its call for views highlights a number of areas within the bill with pa

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has called for an urgent four-nation ministerial meeting on fisheries and maritime security after being excluded from the UK government’s Brexit preparation talks. Writing to the UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, Mr Yousaf has complained that devolved governme

Grampian, Highland and Islands Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle, has ‘locked up’ and handed over the keys of Inverness Castle, closing the door on more than 180 years as the sheriff courthouse for Inverness.

Scotland will struggle to reach its net zero carbon targets unless Holyrood takes a swift and stronger grip on planning policy surrounding the deployment of taller turbine models, as well as a permissive approach to repowering of first-generation onshore windfarms with the latest technology, writes&

A former Nazi concentration camp guard has been found guilty of complicity in the murder of more than 5,000 prisoners. Bruno Dey, 93, was given a two-year suspended sentence following a nine-month trial in a juvenile court as he was 17 at the time of the murders, which were carried out between Augus

The Northern Ireland Executive should be "very slow to interfere" with the current 12-person jury in criminal trials in the face of the COVID-19 backlog, an experienced criminal lawyer has said. According to newspaper reports a reduction in the size of juries from 12 to seven or nine is one of

Two of Anderson Strathern’s private client solicitors have been awarded Worldwide Excellence Awards from the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). Laura Murray achieved the best grade across all four papers in the Scottish Trust and Executry Accounting exam and was the highest-scor

The maker of the famous Ritter Sport square chocolate bars has won a protracted legal battle for the exclusive right to sell square chocolate bars in its home country. The company registered its iconic square shape as a trademark in Germany in 1993, but rival chocolatier Milka has since sought to pr

The first jury trial in Scotland since lockdown ran smoothly this week and made use of digital technology to support a remote jury. The case held at the High Court in Edinburgh followed a new format adhering to physical distancing guidelines and returned a verdict of not proven.

A proposed commission to look at the relationship between the courts and Parliament has apparently been shelved by the UK government. Plans for the Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission were outlined in the Conservative manifesto in the aftermath of last year's prorogation litigation, w

The Preliminary Hearings Bench Book, authored by Lord Matthews and Lord Beckett, has been published. The Bench Book aims to ensure a consistent and effective approach to case management and, although primarily designed for the judiciary, also has the profession in mind.

Headhunters are calling on Scotland's legal sector to avoid repeating poor HR decisions made during the financial crisis in order to survive and thrive in a post-COVID-19 economy. In its eighth and latest annual salary guide, written prior to the pandemic, Core-Asset Consulting were already hig

As a sports-mad youngster with an obsession for TV show Ally McBeal, Jodi Gordon’s main ambition when she was growing up was to find a job that would allow her to combine her love for both. After studying at the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh and beginning her career at personal injury

A Scot working as a US lawyer has described her journey from Edinburgh Law School to a top American firm. Speaking to GlobalLawyersConnect, Eilidh Reid recounts a journey that began with an exchange year at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law before an LLM at Duke University and ult