Opinion

Traditionally it has been understood that legal trainees learn best from experience in an office environment but with the advent of the pandemic, Shirley Phillips, director of people at Thorntons, believes that blended learning could enrich the education for trainee solicitors and will influence fut

The case of EE Ltd and H3G Ltd v Duncan and others came before the Lands Tribunal for Scotland in the summer to be heard as a conjoined application. The case considered how the Electronic Communications Code contained within the Digital Economy Act 2017 applied to leases running by tacit relocation

The Times reported last week on a bitter boundary dispute between two pensioners, each in their eighties, over a strip of land less than a metre wide. Apparently, the legal battle has cost them £500,000, contributed to the death of a spouse and caused stress-related illness. The parties h

Benjamin Bestgen this week explains that the extinction of rights upon death is more complicated a matter than it first seems. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Fans of old-school computer games might still remember Grim Fandango, where the player guides afterlife travel agent Manny Cal

Former sheriff Douglas J. Cusine asks where the responsibility lies in Scotland's malicious prosecution scandal, the greatest crisis in the history of the Crown Office. In his recent article, Douglas Mill, in a semi-jocular way, makes an extremely important point about what the Crown has accepted wa

Shepherd and Wedderburn trainee Emma Hendrie kicks off the firm's celebration of LGBT History Month with a look at the history of the month itself, an explanation of this year’s theme – Body, Mind, Spirit – and how you can show your support. LGBT History Month presents an

Trust between the UK and EU has been dented by the trade row last weekend over Covid vaccines. That same trust is going to be a key issue in how crime is investigated across borders post-Brexit, writes Sarah Munro. While 31 January 2020 was celebrated by many as the day Brexit was ‘done,&rsquo

Eric McQueen, chief executive of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), has written to bar associations in response to a letter raising concerns about the implementation of Covid-19 protections in court and tribunal buildings. We reproduce his letter in full below. Thank you for your lett

Joanne Gillies, partner and insolvency disputes specialist at Pinsent Masons, examines a recent ruling by the Court of Session. Banks will be able to reduce the amount of compensation paid to customers who claimed they were mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) in order to recover debts owed b

Mandy Laurie of Burness Paull explores whether employers can force employees to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Since Margaret Keenan became the first person to receive the Pfizer vaccine in the UK, the rest of the nation has watched on as the introduction of two vaccines and the approval of a third h

Ian McMonagle, tax specialist at Russell & Russell Business Advisers in Glasgow, is predicting a fresh spate of late notice penalties in the wake of changes made at the start of this tax year to how and when residential property owners pay tax on the sale of a home. The changes to the rules on C

Eamon Keane responds to Alistair Bonnington on the Scottish Parliament's Salmond inquiry. I wish to comment upon one matter, related to evidence and procedure, raised in Alistair Bonnington’s opinion piece, in which he is, in my opinion, wholly incorrect. Namely, his assertions about the inte

Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA trade union, which represents Scottish government civil servants and prosecutors, responds to Alistair Bonnington on the Salmond inquiry. Many of you will have views on the evidence and issues that have been dealt with by the Committee on the Scottish Govern

Benjamin Bestgen examines the impact of "respectability" in criminal trials. See last week's jurisprudential primer here. Tropes like the “Gentleman Thief” pick up on the allure of the white-collar criminal: a person who appears respectable, educated, even charming. A worldly, cleve

There never has been a clearer case made out for the utility of law and lawyers than the so-called Salmond Inquiry in the Scottish Parliament. The "Committee on the Scottish government handling of harassment complaints" to give it its correct title, has thus far failed to unearth the truth about the