News

Inksters Solicitors has expanded its Caithness operation with the appointment of Charlotte Platt, who will set up a new office at 10 Sinclair Street, Thurso. Ms Platt is a familiar face in Caithness and Orkney, having worked in Thurso for D&H (formerly Drever and Heddle) for a number of years. S

Scottish spending on legal aid fell by more than eight per cent to a total of £124.4 million last year, the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) has said. The fall in spending is linked to a lack of demand rather than a reduction in funding or the level of fees, but still paints a challenging pictu

Iain Mitchell QC has given evidence to a European Parliament committee about a proposed new regulation for the preservation and recovery of electronic evidence. Mr Mitchell, a member of both the Scottish and English Bars, addressed MEPs as chair of the working party on surveillance of the Council of

Following the decision of the Sheriff Appeal Court in NRAM plc v Cordiner last year, it is generally thought that a homeowner cannot recall a decree by a “Minute for Recall of Decree’ where he or she had appeared in court, or been represented.   This week, Govan Law Centre (GLC

A new expert group will today meet for the first time to improve support, advice and information for victims and complainers. Co-chaired by Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf and Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC, the Victims Taskforce brings together senior decision-makers from justice agencies, the legal

Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC has resigned from the House of Lords ahead of a vote on whether he should be suspended for breaching the code of conduct. The 82-year-old peer and former barrister allegedly harassed women's rights campaigner Jasvinder Sanghera while they worked together on a parliamenta

John Forsyth writes... I was interested by the your recent piece on Peterhead Prison and its mention of the legendary safe-cracker Johnny Ramensky who, among other things, was the last man to be shackled in a Scottish prison.

Thirteen hardy souls from McVey & Murricane (MM) endured a cold and damp evening in Glasgow on 8 December supporting pioneering social entrepreneurs SocialBite.

A Chinese company has been criticised for allegedly fining employees who don't walk 180,000 steps per month. The unnamed real estate firm in Guangzhou fines employees 0.01 yuan (around 0.1p) for every step short of the target.

An absence of reasonable belief of consent, a key element of the statutory definition of rape, does not require to be proved by corroborated evidence and no direction on it is required unless it is a live issue at trial, the Criminal Appeal Court has ruled. The Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway, s

Tommy Sheridan is entitled to interest on the £200,000 damages he was awarded following his successful defamation action against the publishers of the News of the World, at the judicial rate of eight per cent per year from the date of the jury’s verdict in 2006 until the principal sum wa

A new report written for the Scottish Land Commission by a research team at the University of Reading suggests that land value taxation could raise revenue in a more "progressive" way. With a total estimated value of around £5 trillion, or just over half of the total net worth of the

The Scottish Law Commission has today published a revised version of the Trusts (Scotland) Bill, as part of its recommendations for the reform of the current "outdated" and "archaic" legislation. Although some trusts are administered by professional trustees, many others are administered by lay

Insurance consultancy firm Mactavish has warned that many in-house legal counsel are overlooking the insurance requirements and risks facing their employers, wrongly believing this is the responsibility of their colleagues in the finance or risk departments. Mactavish's data sugg

The Faculty of Advocates has provided one of a team of international observers for a case in Colombia, known as the “Twelve Apostles” trial. Advocate Simon Crabb represented the Faculty’s Human Rights and Rule of Law Committee at the trial of Santiago Uribe Velez, brother of the co