Parliament House has become home to eight delegates as they spend 12 weeks learning about the Scottish bar and the country’s legal system.

The programme dates from the 1970s and is organised by the Faculty and the European Lawyers’ Association (ELA).
As well as hearing talks from a host of expert speakers, the visitors will have individual placements with a High Court/Court of Session judge, and senior and junior counsel.

Paul Harvey, advocate, is co-ordinating the 2019 programme, which runs to 28 June.

He said: “I am delighted to welcome this year’s Eurodevils. The Faculty has a long tradition, both of sending Scots lawyers to other European countries to work and study, and of welcoming lawyers from other European countries to work and study here. It is wonderful to be able to continue that tradition.”

The eight Eurodevils are: Dimitri Marcolongo and Paola Ratti, both from Italy, Erika Olofsson and Ingrid Olsson (Sweden), Catherine Huber (Luxembourg), Miriama Podskubova (Slovakia), Tomasz Pustowka (Czechia) and Beatriz Alonso Rodriguez-Vina (Spain).

Speaking for the group, Paola Ratti said: “We hope to get a real understanding of a common law system from the inside. And I am looking forward to meeting other European lawyers with an open mind, and having an exchange of different points of view.”