Holyrood's Criminal Justice Committee has backed the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill at stage one, but expressed concerns over whether its reforms will sufficiently improve the police complaints system. The committee’s report said the introduction of a statutory code
Appointments
See all articlesBlack Chambers has welcomed several new members. Richard Goddard KC, Paul Keenan, and Louis Bendle have joined the stable after calling to the bar last week. Mr Goddard comes to the bar as a highly respected senior counsel, having practised as a solicitor advocate in the High Court for 11 years befo
Commercial real estate specialist Leanne Hill has joined Blackadders LLP as a partner in Aberdeen. Ms Hill has 18 years’ experience in commercial property in the city and across the central belt of Scotland. She has joined from Pinsent Masons where she was a senior associate.
Ross Crawford, Donald Mackay and Rebecca Osborne have been welcomed to Compass after all three called to the bar today. Prior to calling to the bar, Mr Crawford worked with Clyde & Co and typically handled an interesting and complex range of matters involving fatalities and complex injuries. He
Optimum Advocates has welcomed four new members to the stable: Martin Lennon, Mairi-Claire McMillan, Linzi McQuade and Iona Young.
Axiom has welcomed two new members – Alannah McGinley and Jamie McGowan. Ms McGinley has experience in a wide variety of civil matters. She has particular knowledge in the areas of commercial disputes, professional liability, public law and media law. As a solicitor in private practice, she sp
Morag McEwan has joined Westwater Advocate, having called to the bar. Specialising in family law and child law, she is experienced in litigation arising from the breakdown of relationships and in cases involving high net worth individuals and complex assets including partnerships, trusts and compani
Legal Aid
See all articlesLord Chancellor Alex Chalk is being taken to the High Court by lawyers who say legal aid fees are so low they cannot provide representation to thousands of people. The case revolves around access to legal aid for immigration and asylum lawyers and is being brought by Duncan Lewis solicitors.
The Law Society of Scotland is to withdraw from discussions on the creation of a review mechanism for legal aid fees, stating it had "lost confidence" in the Scottish government project following a lack of progress in two years. The Legal Aid Remuneration Project and Research Analysis Group were set
The number of criminal legal aid solicitors dropped from 1,459 in 2007 to 966, the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA) has said as it warned the system was heading for collapse. The Scottish government's public spend on legal aid has declined by 45 per cent, allowing for inflation, over the p
The Scottish government’s 2024-25 budget continues its distorted and shortsighted approach to criminal justice, according to the Law Society of Scotland. The budget papers reveal an extra £22 million has been provided to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), while the f
The Scottish Legal Aid Board has confirmed that as at 1 June 2023 there were 975 lawyers on the Criminal Legal Aid Register, following a freedom of information request by the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA). Of those 975, however, 238 received no payment for criminal legal aid in the year
Universities
See all articlesCopyright of Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans Leading forensic officers are delving into a famous ‘murder’ from more than 100 years ago, in the return of a true crime podcast from the University of Dundee.
Dr Amy Lawton, senior lecturer in tax law at Edinburgh Law School, has received a Fulbright Award to enable her to research at Villanova Law School. She has been selected from a strong applicant pool to explore the impact of legal representation in the tax court in both the US and the UK.
The University of Aberdeen's School of Law has been recognised for its commitment to progressing gender equality with the renewal of its Athena SWAN Bronze Award. Advance HE’s Athena Swan Charter recognises commitment to the advancement of gender equality in academic, professional and support
Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd is one of six leading figures in law, science and other fields who will be honoured at the University of Dundee’s summer graduation ceremonies this month. Lord Thomas was the lord chief justice of England and Wales between 2013 and 2017. He called to the bar in 1969 (Gr
Edinburgh Law School has become the first university in Scotland to run a master's course on LGBT rights. On 21 May, Edinburgh Law School’s Dr Paul Behrens gave a presentation about the LGBT Rights: A Legal Perspective course to the Cross-Party Group on LGBTI+ of the Scottish Parliament.
And Finally
See all articlesA man in his 20s who allegedly tried to board a plane while disguised as a sexagenarian has been arrested. Guru Sewak Singh, 24, dyed his hair and beard white and wore glasses to allegedly try and convince officials at Delhi Airport that he was a 67-year-old man, NDTV reports.
Police responding to bloodcurdling screams coming from an old barn discovered it was being used by a theatre group to rehearse a production of Frankenstein. The Bradfordians Dramatic Society was interrupted by Wiltshire Police while rehearsing a stage adaptation of Mary Shelley's famous 19th-century
A major internet service provider has been accused of deliberately and unlawfully infecting over 600,000 users with malware. South Korean telecom provider KT is said to have acted disproportionately to prevent customers from using a service provided by Webhard which strains KT's network.
A three-bedroom house in San Francisco's affluent Russian Hill neighbourhood has been listed for an astonishingly low price of $488,000 (around £385,000).
A man impersonating a cop unwittingly pulled over an actual police officer in an unmarked car. The New Orleans man turned his illegally installed flashing lights on as he pulled behind the real detective.