News

Irish Legal News, our sister publication, has run the strange story of ‘Typhoid Mary’ as part of its Legal Heritage series. We thought it sufficiently interesting to republish here on Scottish Legal News.

Pagans who attempted to worship at Stonehenge have been found guilty of breaking rules restricting their access to the ancient site. Maryam Halcrow, 56, who says she is a witch, Lisa Mead, 52, who identifies as a druid and Angela Grace, 46, entered the circle without reasonable excuse.

An environmental campaigner who was seeking to challenge decisions of the UK and Scottish governments not to hold a public inquiry into undercover policing activities in Scotland following the so-called “spy-cops” scandal has had her application for judicial review dismissed. A judge in

A bill that aims to give local authorities and communities a stronger voice in the management of Scottish Crown Estate assets has been passed. Under reforms passed by the Parliament, the Scottish Crown Estate Bill establishes a framework intended to deliver wider benefits and new opportunities for l

A police inquiry into the handling of the investigation and prosecution of the Lockerbie bomber has found no evidence of criminality, The Times reports. Nine allegations were examined by detectives over the course of four years in an investigation called Operation Sandwood.

The decision by the Scottish government to withdraw the Common Financial Tool (Scotland) Regulations 2018 from the Scottish Parliament (for the second time) is to be welcomed, writes Alan McIntosh. The regulations, which had intended to replace the Common Financial Statement (CFS) with the Standard

The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic celebrated its 15th anniversary last week. The event featured a variety of speakers, including law clinic director Kate Laverty; president of the Employment Tribunal (Scotland), Shona Simon; president of the Law Society of Scotland, Alison Atack; dean of

Poland has moved to reinstate 27 Supreme Court judges, who were forced to retire under controversial judicial reforms, following a European Court of Justice ruling last month. Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro told Polish MPs yesterday that he "respected the rules and principles of the European Union

The UK government's Crown Commercial Services (CCS) has appointed TLT to the full-service lot on its new £320 million wider public sector legal services panel. TLT is one of six firms in the full-service lot that have been appointed to deliver legal services in all three UK legal jurisdictions

Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is facing a private prosecution for alleged misconduct in public offence during the EU referendum campaign. Private prosecutor Marcus J Ball revealed today that he has notified Mr Johnson of his intention to bring a case against him.

A Labour MP has called for juries in rape trials to be abolished because of "shockingly low" conviction rates. Ann Coffey, MP for Stockport, said juries are reluctant to find young men guilty even where they think they have committed rape.

Thompsons Solicitors Scotland received more entries than ever before for this year’s Frank Maguire Memorial Award. Law students across Scotland were asked to write a blog post on a current issue, inspired by the work of Frank Maguire.This year the award was won by Euan Robertson, a third-

Members of the Faculty of Advocates and staff have raised £301 at a book sale in aid of the Scottish Book Trust. The sale was organised by Jane Condie, of the Advocates Library, as part of Book Week Scotland. Scores of paperbacks and hardbacks were donated, and found their way to new owners fo

A solicitor who sent a foul-mouthed rant to the Solicitors Regulation Authority has been banned from the profession. Luke Stephen Venton, 39, had three previous convictions from 2014-2017, two of which he failed to inform the SRA of. He has not practised since November 2015, the Gazette reports.

A woman found guilty of running a brothel and escort business in Edinburgh who claimed she suffered a “miscarriage of justice” has failed in a legal challenge against a decision of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) to reject an application to refer her case