Environmental and human rights campaigners rallied outside the Court of Session yesterday to mark the Scottish government missing a crucial deadline for compliance with the with the UN Aarhus Convention’s access to justice requirements.
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Appointments
See all articlesAddleshaw Goddard has recruited Martin Devine, a property development and investment specialist, as a partner in its real estate team in Scotland. Mr Devine, who joins the firm from Pinsent Masons, is a prominent figure in the Scottish real estate market with wide ranging development experience span
Aberdein Considine has made a record number of promotions. Twenty-one lawyers working from Peterhead to Newcastle upon Tyne have been elevated in the firm’s latest round of promotions.
VMH Solicitors has announced the appointment of Katie Macdonald as property sales director. Ms Macdonald has been working in property sales for over 24 years and has an extensive knowledge of the property sector.
Stronachs LLP has announed two appointments. Joining the firm in 2014, Annika Neukirch has been promoted from senior associate to partner. Ms Neukirch advises on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law services across various sectors. She also works closely with the corporate t
Burness Paull has appointed Mark Ellis as its new managing partner, working alongside Peter Lawson who will continue as chair. A highly-regarded corporate lawyer who specialises in private equity transactions and mergers and acquisitions, he trained with legacy firm Burness before spending five year
A new partner heads an 11-strong field of lawyers promoted at Lindsays. Kirsty Preston’s appointment is her second promotion in a year – having made the step up to senior associate 12 months ago.
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 articlesFor the very first time in the UK, a dedicated undergraduate course in Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights is being offered at Edinburgh Law School. Economic, social, and cultural (ESC) rights are fundamental human rights that are necessary to live a dignified life that is free from fear and want.
Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC will deliver this year's James Wood lecture on the topic of the prosecution of sexual offences. The James Wood Lecture is the principal public lecture hosted annually by the University of Glasgow School of Law, having first been delivered by Lord Fraser of Tullybelton i
Edinburgh Law School’s Dr Martin David Kelly, lecturer in legal theory, has been elected as a convenor of the Jurisprudence Section of the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS). Dr Kelly will take over the convening of the section with Dr Sahar Shah (University of Bristol), for a three-year term in
Professor Anne-Maree Farrell, chair of medical jurisprudence at Edinburgh Law School, will be welcomed as a fellow to the Academy of Social Sciences this autumn. She is one of 45 social scientists to be selected, joining 1,600 other fellows from academia, the public, private and third sectors.
A law professor at the University of Strathclyde has been appointed as an Honorary King’s Counsel (KC), in recognition of an outstanding career spanning more than 40 years. Emeritus Professor Alan Paterson OBE is one of five new Honorary KCs appointed by His Majesty The King on the recommendat
And Finally
See all articlesSwitzerland and Italy have redrawn their international borders as a result of melting glaciers in the Alps. Part of the border between the two Alpine countries has historically been marked by the watershed of the Theodul glacier.
A man has been jailed for six months for his leading role in a decade-long effort to create "giant sheep hybrids" using illegal cloning techniques. Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 81, admitted smuggling parts of the largest sheep in the world – Marco Polo argali sheep (Ovis ammon polii) &
A company which claimed to have invented "the world's first robot lawyer" has agreed to pay a nearly $200,000 settlement over its marketing claims.
A man has been charged with stealing a vehicle in order to drive to his trial for theft of a vehicle. Police say Oklahoma man Kody Adams approached a number of people at a petrol station to ask for a lift to his trial more than 30 minutes away, but couldn't find anyone willing to take him.
An American judge who was temporarily removed from the bench after he humiliated a teenage girl who fell asleep during a classroom visit to his court has been demoted to dealing with speeding tickets. Judge Kenneth King was ordered to undertake social-emotional training by the chief judge of Detroit