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Twenty years after the establishment of a full-time European Court of Human Rights guaranteeing a right of individual petition to over 800 million Europeans, the President of the court Guido Raimondi hailed the establishment of the court in 1998 as a landmark in the development of international hum

American lawyer David Rudolf, whose client Michael Peterson was the focus of the Netflix hit The Staircase, compared notes on criminal justice with Donald Findlay QC on the Edinburgh stop of his ongoing tour. Scotland's "not proven" verdict was among the subjects they discussed in the Queen's Hall a

A man who laughed and swore at police officers who couldn't find drugs on him was later found to be hiding a bag of cocaine – in his penis. James Mason, 21, told officers "f**k off, you're not searching me" and then, after a search, "ha ha, told you I had f**k all on us, you mugs".

The Inner House of the Court of Session has today decided that the current way the children’s hearings system considers brothers and sisters is compatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case was appealed to the Inner House following a decision by Lady Wise in Ju

A Scots lawyer who overcharged clients by thousands of pounds, including one case which resulted in £116,000 compensation being paid out from the Law Society of Scotland’s client protection fund, has been struck off the roll of solicitors after being guilty of “professional miscond

Judges in courts across Scotland will from today have to take into account a sentencing guideline when sentencing offenders. The principles and purposes of the sentencing guideline were approved by the High Court of Justiciary on 30 October and it applies to all offenders who are sentenced on o

An independent review into allegations of a bullying culture at NHS Highland will be conducted by John Sturrock QC. Health Secretary Jeane Freeman had previously announced plans for an independent review to look into the allegations that were raised in September.

Most people in Scotland support reforms that would allow people to self-declare their gender, according to the results of a consultation. The Scottish government survey supported proposals to create a legally recognised third gender for people who identify as neither male nor female.

Morton Fraser is growing its medical negligence team with the appointment of senior solicitor Derek Couper. Mr Couper who has a breadth of experience in dealing with medical negligence cases and also specialises in birth injury and fatal cases is joining Morton Fraser from the medical negligence tea

Scotland’s prosecutors have begun training in preparation for the coming into force of new domestic abuse legislation next year. 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 violence, psycho

As readers will no doubt be aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has applied from 25 May 2018. Six months on, Daradjeet Jagpal carries out an initial appraisal of four key aspects of the GDPR and provides his thoughts on what lies ahead. Transparency

The tough economic conditions which have engulfed Aberdeen for the last four years may be coming to an end with new figures indicating tentative signs of a recovery in the local property market, according to a new report. Three areas across Scotland also continued to show heavy demand, with Edinburg

Humanists have written to Scottish government secretaries Aileen Campbell and Humza Yousaf to call for Scotland’s common law offence against blasphemy to be dropped in forthcoming legislation covering hate crime. A letter from Humanist Society Scotland calls the retention of the common la

A new expert group will begin work within weeks to improve support, advice and information for complainers and victims, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has announced. The Victims Taskforce will meet on 12 December for the first time.

Sixty-one new solicitors were admitted to the profession at the Law Society of Scotland’s latest Admission Ceremony which took place on Friday at the Signet Library in Edinburgh.