Kapil Summan

The Faculty of Advocates has established an emergency fund to assist members who have been tipped into financial distress by the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the hard-pressed criminal bar have been especially affected by the suspension of criminal trials in Scotland. These were brought to a halt in

Lord Sumption has admitted that he stopped obeying the coronavirus regulations when they began "reaching levels of absurdity". Speaking to legal journalist Joshua Rozenberg QC (hon.), the former Supreme Court justice said he did not accept that there was a "moral obligation to comply with the law".

Lawyers have said there is a case for complainers in sexual offences cases to be given their own legal representation when applications are made to lead evidence of bad character or sexual history so they can make submissions on whether such an application should be granted in order to prevent "re-v

The results of our working from home (WFH) survey are in and they present a largely favourable but mixed picture of WFH that will likely see a mixed response from law firms.

From the well-known like the Moorov doctrine and hamesucken to the obscure like stouthrief, Scots law is replete with distinctive phrases and expressions. And with the interest in the Scots language currently on the rise, we thought we would ask Scotland's lawyers to engage in a little lockdown levi

The Lands Tribunal for Scotland has rejected an application by a landowner for the discharge of a real burden that would have deprived three proprietors in Glasgow's West End of their servitude right of use of a garden. The real burden bound owners in a disposition from 1882 "not to erect any buildi

SLN's editor reviews Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics by Jonathan Sumption. Though apt to be caricatured as some sort of anti-judge in the post-prorogation world, iconoclast jurist Jonathan Sumption—in this, his first popular legal book—echoes Montesquieu wh

The Society of Solicitor Advocates has expressed opposition to the suggestion by the Scottish government that juries be abolished in solemn trials for the duration of the coronavirus emergency. The option, which was tabled again by the Scottish government last week but which is not expected to appea

Despite a furious backlash from the legal profession, the Scottish government is still actively considering the suspension of jury trials.

A recommendation that legal services in Scotland be independently regulated has been condemned as poorly researched, flawed in its conclusions and as contributing nothing of use to the debate over the Roberton Review.

A former senior judge has said efforts should be made to preserve jury trials during the pandemic after the Scottish government attempted to pass legislation allowing solemn trials to be conducted without juries. Crossbench peer Lord Hope of Craighead's comments come after the governm

The Scottish government is attempting to give ministers the power to allow solemn trials to be conducted without juries and to "dismantle in one fell swoop more than 600 years of legal principle" in a move described as a "knee-jerk reaction" at best and something "far more sinister" at worst. The Sc

People wishing to take oaths remotely have been asked to provide their own holy book or scripture. Oaths, for the religious, and affirmations, for the irreligious, must now, of course, be made over Skype, Zoom or another VoIP service.

The UK government's reaction to the coronavirus pandemic should be investigated after the emergency has abated but any legal action brought against it will face "high hurdles", lawyers have told Scottish Legal News. Boris Johnson's government is widely believed to have made a U-turn on its

Scottish Legal News was pleased to attend a recent event in Edinburgh organised by the Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association and hosted by the Society of Solicitors of the Supreme Court in Scotland where we heard from current Supreme Court judicial assistant (JA), Francesca Ruddy and former