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People serving community payback orders (CPO) since their introduction in 2011 have generated around seven million hours of unpaid work, according to new figures. The Criminal Justice Social Work 2017-18 statistics show 17,800 CPOs were commenced in 2017-18 and 75 per cent had an unpaid work or

Child migrants sent away by the UK government are to be each given £20,000 in compensation by the state. Between the 1920s and the 1970s, 130,000 children were sent to former British colonies, mainly Canada and Australia.

A lawyer has cast doubt on the effectiveness of new powers to be given to victims of serious crimes to challenge Parole Board decisions on the release of prisoners. The reforms have been introduced following the case of John Worboys, the black-cab rapist.

A police chief has been cleared over claims of improper use of the force's firing range, The Herald reports. The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) has rejected claims against assistant chief constable Bernie Higgins 14 months after was temporarily suspended.

New rules to reduce deaths in household fires have been announced, with improved standards introduced for fire and smoke alarms in Scottish homes. The improved standards will mean every home in the country must have a smoke alarm fitted in the living room or lounge, and in circulation spaces such as

A woman who mutilated her three-year-old child has become the first person in the UK to be convicted of female genital mutilation (FGM). The Ugandan woman, 37, from east London wept at her trial in the Old Bailey. Her 43-year-old partner was acquitted.

A study into Scotland’s most and least affordable cities has found that Aberdeen has seen the biggest boost in home affordability over the last five years. The latest Bank of Scotland research found that average house prices in the city have risen by only two per cent to £203,944 in the

A Texas lawyer is suing Apple after its FaceTime bug allegedly allowed someone to overhear his confidential meeting with a client. Larry Williams II filed a suit in Harris County, Houston after it was revealed that the bug allowed eavesdroppers to listen in on a call on a phone or Mac before the use

A sheriff has banned a man from shouting in his own flat. Solicitor Anika Jethwa told Dundee Sheriff Court that Gerrard Kelly, 41, shouts as a coping mechanism to deal with his “difficulties”.

A teenager who claimed that Scottish legislation on “fixed penalty notices” breached European human rights law on the basis that there was no means of challenging the charge if an individual failed to ask to be tried for the alleged offence within the statutory 28-day time limit has had

Individuals with concerns that members of the legal community are involved with financial improprieties or money laundering can now anonymously report their concerns to the professional body for Scottish solicitors. The confidential reporting concerns line and online form, which have gone live today

Brexit is starting to get real, with the detail of the ‘no deal’ provision being put in place. Continuing on from her earlier two articles on Brexit and family law (Part I, Part II), Rachael Kelsey now looks at what all family lawyers (specialists or those with a more general practice) n

The UK government has recently announced that the “same roof” rule in terms of criminal injuries compensation is to be abolished. This rule precludes compensation for victims of violence at the hands of members of the same family with whom they were living before October 1979. The reform

CMS has advised SSE on the sale of a 49.9 per cent stake in its Stronelairg and Dunmaglass wind farms to Greencoat UK Wind Plc in partnership with a major UK pension fund whose investment is managed by Greencoat Capital. The stakes equate to 160.6MW (megawatts) of capacity and the total consideratio

Inquests for the victims of the Guildford pub bombing should restart more than 40 years after they were suspended, a coroner has ruled. Five people were killed on 5 October 1974 when two bombs were detonated by the IRA at two Guildford pubs. Four people, known as the “Guildford Four”, we