News

Writing for Scottish Legal News, Rachael Kelsey, lawyer for Mrs Villiers in Villiers v Villiers, discusses the details of the case, which was heard by the Supreme Court this week. Villiers v Villiers, the first intra-UK Maintenance Regulation case to be heard by the Supreme Court, has grow

An app version of the Letter of Rights given to people in police custody has been suggested by the Faculty of Advocates. The Scottish government introduced the Letter of Rights for Scotland in 2013 and updated it last year. Ministers are now consulting on further possible changes.

The Scottish government has said the time is right to normalise mediation and other forms of dispute resolution but that public consultation is required in advance of proceeding with reform. In a response to the independent review of mediation, the government detailed proposals for review.

The Law Society of Scotland’s Planning Law Sub-Committee is inviting Scottish solicitors and interested stakeholders to share their views on the subject of planning obligations under section 75 (Planning Obligations) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. 

The deliberate starvation of civilians during an armed civil conflict has been established as a war crime under an amendment to the Rome Statute underpinning the International Criminal Court (ICC). An amendment to article 8, paragraph 2 (e) of the Rome Statute was proposed by Switzerland and agreed

Scotland’s first purpose-built justice centre will open on 30 March 2020.

DWF Group plc is to acquire Spanish law firm Rousaud Costas Duran (RCD), it revealed, as it announced its first set of half-year results as a PLC. DWF has seen a 10 per cent increase in group revenue from £133.4m to £146.8m and a two per cent increase in gross profit to £73.7m

The Scottish government response to the independent review of mediation in Scotland has been issued this week. Ash Denham, legal affairs minister, has commented on momentum building towards mediation reform referring to proposals for review by (1) Scottish Mediation, (2) the Justice Committee report

A law student who was awarded two prestigious prizes for outstanding achievements over the course of her LLB has discussed her experience studying at Edinburgh Law School. Iona Bonaventura was awarded the Lord President Cooper Memorial Prize Scholarship, the law school's top prize, given to “a

A neo-Nazi city councillor has launched a legal bid to force a left-wing mayor to shake his hand. Katja Wolf, mayor of the eastern German town of Eisenach, has refused to shake hands with any of the four councillors from the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD).

A hotel which donates a proportion of its revenue to a trust that manages a Scottish World Heritage Site has successfully challenged a decision to reject its application for charitable status. New Lanark Hotels Ltd, which donates income from its hotel accommodation and associated activities to the N

The Scottish Housing Regulator is to investigate Glasgow City Council’s service for people who are homeless after finding that a “significant number of people” are still failing to receive temporary and emergency accommodation when required. Using its powers under the Housing (Scot

Lord Summers’ recent judgement in the case of Peebles Media Group Ltd v Patricia Kelly has no happy ending, describing as it does a situation that is increasingly common in the UK – ‘whaling fraud’. Unlike ‘phishing’ where fraudulent emails are sent to a large num

Ways of assessing judicial potential that do not rely on experience of advocacy in the higher courts are necessary if more women are to join the bench, Lady Hale has said. Delivering the BACFI Denning Lecture 2019 in London, the President of the Supreme Court said that in order to achieve gender par

Community safeguarding charity Sacro has announced the appointment of Annie Mauger-Thompson as its new chief executive. Ms Mauger-Thompson, who was replaced as national director for CIH Scotland by Callum Chomczuk in September 2018, joins the organisation after stints as an interim chief executive w