Opinion

Neilsons looks at the release of pent up demand for property in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Back in April, we reported that the local property market effectively entered a necessary “sleep mode” to protect the NHS with the pandemic at its peak. We argued against other commentators about

Sarah Stewart considers the Scottish government's Heat Networks Bill and its impact on the housing and heating industries.District heating, also known as a heat network, is a distribution system of insulated pipes that takes heat from a central source and delivers it to a number of domestic or

The effect of the Limitation (Childhood Abuse) (Scotland) Act 2017, and whether a claim for historic abuse in Scotland should be allowed to proceed in the English courts, was considered by the High Court in its recent judgment, JXJ v The Province of Great Britain of the Institute of Brothers of the

Emily Pike and Rosie Taylor look at the implication of the recent case Villiers v Villiers on the issues of 'jurisdiction shopping', divorce law, trust law, inheritance, and powers of attorney. In July, the UK Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case of Villiers v Villiers 2020 UKSC 3

Benjamin Bestgen examines the available options for punishing companies and questions whether our current laws are appropriate. Corporate crimes make prominent headlines, particularly when they involve large multinationals like Volkswagen, WellsFargo, Pfizer or Odebrecht. But smaller businesses like

The sentencing of the man responsible for the shooting at two mosques in March 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand, took place over a number of days last week with the High Court judge (Justice Cameron Mander) imposing a sentence of life imprisonment without parole on 27 August 2020. Fergus Whyte and

Peter Alderdice and Daniel Boynton from Shepherd and Wedderburn detail how ethical finance can kickstart the green recovery of Scotland's economy after COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has made one thing abundantly clear: when disaster strikes, major societal change is possible overnight.

Bill Meldrum presents the five key principles that should focus landlords' minds around how they interact with commercial tenants. The UK’s commercial property sector faces its own set of challenges due to the uncertainty that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to our world.

Benjamin Bestgen this week considers the moral obligations of companies. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Lawyers often keep their views on the moral qualities of their clients or clients’ actions to themselves. Morality, many think, is subjective, particularly as differentiating neat

In 1884, a lamb skipped its way into Scottish legal history after it entered unfriendly territory. Winans v Macrae [1885] 22 SLR 692 is a leading case on the issue of trespass by animals and affirmed the requirement for actual material damage for a successful interdict claim.

A reader writes in response to our article from the Friday 21 August edition of Scottish Legal News: Our Legal Heritage: The adulterous judge who had his troublesome wife kidnapped and exiled to St Kilda. Following the harrowing tale of Rachel Chiesley's (Lady Grange) assault, abduction and imp

Duncan Milne warns employers over claims arising from the pandemic. An increase in whistleblowing claims over the coming months is inevitable. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the furlough fraud reports are now sitting at around 8,000. This fi

Benjamin Bestgen discusses the rights of animals in his latest jurisprudential primer. See last week's here. Britain is said to be a nation of pet lovers, with an estimated 50 per cent of British adults having a pet – dogs, cats and rabbits being the most popular. But Britain is also a nation

David Lorimer takes a look at the acquittal rate in last year's Scottish Mock Jury Trials and the 'Hollywood Effect'. The lighter side of remote trials being heard by juries in cinemas is already doing the rounds: ‘...selling tickets could reduce court costs...ice cream and sweeties could live

Stephen Phillips discusses the UK government's Brexit blueprint in relation to policing trade between the different parts of the UK. Last month the Westminster government set out its blueprint for policing trade between different parts of the UK after the post-brexit transition period ends on 31 Dec