Kapil Summan

Plans to exclude juries from rape trials have been rubbished by the Faculty of Advocates. In a submission to Holyrood's Criminal Justice Committee, the Faculty states that many within the legal profession had been accused of being conspiracy theorists when they suggested last year that there was "a

Dmitry Dedov, Russia's judge at the European Court of Human Rights, gave a partly dissenting opinion in today's long-awaited judgment in the case brought by the widow of Alexander Litvinenko against the Russian state. Mr Litvinenko, a Russian defector and dissident, was fatally poisoned with poloniu

Stephen O'Rourke QC has been appointed principal crown counsel, replacing Alex Prentice QC in the role. Mr O'Rourke, whose seniority is immediately below that of the lord advocate and solicitor general, will lead the advocate depute team.

Joanna Cherry QC MP is returning to the bar on a limited basis and will defend feminist activist Marion Millar in her first case, Scottish Legal News can reveal. Ms Cherry has accepted instructions through Beltrami and Company to defend Ms Millar, who has been charged by police with offences under s

Society should adopt asynchronous legal hearings, Professor Richard Susskind has said. Speaking at an online conference hosted by the Judicial Institute for Scotland on what lies ahead for civil justice, the legal futurist laid out developments in the court system that he expects to see.

Bad faith actors are making crypto-political arguments in the legal arena, the Lord Chancellor has suggested. In a speech delivered at a conference on constitutional reform at University College London, Robert Buckland QC MP suggested the concept of the 'rule of law' was being abused for political e

Dorothy Bain QC is to be Scotland's next Lord Advocate, while Ruth Charteris QC will take up the role of Solicitor General. If the Scottish Parliament approves the nominations, Ms Bain will replace James Wolffe QC who will demit office once Her Majesty The Queen has signed the warrant appointin

Lawyers have availed themselves of the emergency coronavirus legislation to enable an expert witness to give evidence remotely amid an ongoing debate on whether evidence in High Court cases should be given remotely at all. At a trial in the High Court in Glasgow, the defendant was accused of as

Lord Hope of Craighead has expressed concern that a bill to recognise overseas qualifications could affect Scots lawyers – without their input. The Professional Qualifications Bill, currently at committee stage, would treat individuals seeking to practise particular professions in the UK "as i

Defence lawyers around the country downed their gowns yesterday in protest against the Scottish government's refusal to promptly disburse payments from its resilience fund. The Scottish government has only paid out £2.3 million of the £9m fund and less than a third of firms that applied

Defence lawyers around Scotland have gone on strike today after last-minute talks with the Scottish government to obtain additional payments from its resilience fund failed. The Scottish Solicitors Bar Association held talks with Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf over the remainder of the fund yesterda

In the 53rd and bonus addition to the jurisprudential primer series, Kapil Summan discusses the debate around the 'not proven' verdict and the views of its supporters and detractors. Thanks are due to Benjamin Bestgen and Dr Brian Barry, of Technological University Dublin, with whom the author had u

The 'not proven' verdict is neither logical nor sensible, undermines the presumption of innocence and should be abolished, a recently retired judge has said. Writing in Scottish Legal News today, Lord Uist, who retired from the bench in February, said that the third verdict was "wholly indefensible

Prosecutors have no licence to "police a free press in a free country", a group of former lawyers who have held high office claim. Writing in Scottish Legal News today, the group, which calls itself Quis? – Latin for 'who' – argues that the Crown Office abused the contempt of court mecha

Solicitor and politician Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh is to appear before the Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal (SSDT) next month. A virtual preliminary hearing in Law Society v Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh will take place on May 11.