News

The Scottish Parliament can competently legislate to ban fracking and indeed is legally obligated to do so, an advocate has said. Aidan O'Neill QC, whose opinion was commissioned by Friends of the Earth, made his comments ahead of an anticipated announcement from the Scottish government about h

Poor financial management, unclear lines of responsibility and a failure to focus on the views of officers and staff in the early stages of reform lie at the root of many of the problems faced by Police Scotland, according to Holyrood's Justice Committee. A review into the 2012 Police and Fire

The equivalent of more than 40 per cent of officers and staff have left the British Transport Police in Scotland since the Scottish government announced its plan to merge the service into Police Scotland. Freedom of information requests submitted by the Scottish Liberal Democrats have revealed that

Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace (RCCW) has increased its Stonehaven presence through the acquisition of local law firm Connons of Stonehaven (Connons). Naomi Mearns, partner and Stonehaven branch principal at RCCW, will be working closely with Scott Rennie, associate solicitor at Connons, to sp

A public education campaign aims to help a new law making psychological or emotional maltreatment a form of domestic abuse in Scotland. The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 creates a new offence of “abusive behaviour in relation to a partner or ex-partner” where physical and sexual vio

Cameron Intellectual Property has established a partnership with German-based RGTH (Richter Gerbaulet Thielemann Hofmann) to mitigate the uncertainty posed by Brexit. The relationship aims to ensure the firm retains a seamless service across the EU regardless of the outcome of Brexit.

At least half of the UK's judges should be women, the President of the UK Supreme Court, Lady Hale, has said. The UK's most senior judge made the remarks while reflecting on the centenary of women's entry to the legal profession at an event hosted by the Association of Women Judges (AWJ), The Telegr

Legal journalist John Forsyth learns about the realities of rehabilitating convicted knife criminals on a visit to the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit in the latest episode of BBC Radio 4's From Our Home Correspondent. Many experts regard the scheme in Glasgow as a model for other UK cities - notab

A man accused of "butchering" a tree near his property has been ordered to pay £21,000 under proceeds of crime legislation. Samuel Wilson, 40, added £21,000 to the value of his home by illegally chopping back a tree that was subject to a preservation order, The Times reports.

Indefinite immigration detention should be brought to an end and there should be greater judicial oversight of the system as the Home Office has demonstrated a "shockingly cavalier" attitude in its approach to immigration detention and has overseen serious failings in almost every area of the i

The Scottish government's consultation on Scottish charity law has too limited a scope and represents a missed opportunity for meaningful reform according to audit, tax and consulting firm RSM. In its response to the consultation which closes on 1 April, RSM highlighted that a broader review would h

Tom Stocker contrasts English DPAs and the Scottish civil settlement regime in the context of a parliamentary inquiry into bribery legislation, at which he himself gave evidence. The UK's 2010 Bribery Act has created "an international gold standard for anti-bribery and corruption legislation",

Blackkadders scored a double awards whammy last night after picking up two top titles at the Scottish Legal Awards.

Counter-fraud specialist Jill Sinclair was named Scotland’s lawyer of the year. Ms Sinclair, 37, heads up the counter-fraud operation for DWF north of the border and advises its insurance clients across the UK.

Aspiring advocates will have a chance to see life at the Scottish bar when the Faculty of Advocates holds an Open Day for S5 and S6 school pupils and university students. The day to note is Monday 6 May, but with demand for places likely to be high, another important date is Wednesday 24 April, the