Case Reports

The Supreme Court has clarified the use of closed material procedure under section 6 of the Justice and Security Act 2013, an issue raised in Belhaj and another v Director of Public Prosecutions and another. The appellants allege that they were abducted and mistreated by agents of foreign gover

A different-sex couple who object to marriage on the basis they believe it is patriarchal and who sought judicial review of the respondent’s refusal to make legislative changes which would allow them to enter into a civil partnership have had their appeal unanimously allowed by justices in the

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the UK discriminated against a transgender woman who was denied a pension on reaching the retirement age for women. The case concerned transgender woman MB, who was assigned male at birth in 1948, married a woman in 1974, began to live as a woman in

A man who was jailed for four years having been found guilty of historical child sex offences committed when he was a teenager has had his sentence upheld following an appeal by the Crown. The Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary ruled that while the custodial term imposed was at the “

Tommy Sheridan has had a legal challenge against a decision by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) to refuse to refer his conviction for perjury to the High Court of Justiciary dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session said she was unable to identify any basis on which it could be

A man who was found guilty of sexually abusing his step-daughter and her cousin over a number of years starting when they were only eight years old has been ordered to pay them damages totalling £200,000. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that both pursuers, who also claimed that they were

A man accused of rape who was seeking to question the complainer about a previous consensual sexual encounter he had with her in order to elicit evidence supporting his special defence of consent has had his appeal refused. The Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary upheld the decision of a pr

A petition seeking judicial review of the Scottish Government’s purported ban on “fracking” has been refused, after a judge ruled that there was in fact “no prohibition” against the controversial process of oil and gas extraction in Scotland – despite ministerial

A man who was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a friend while she was asleep has had his sentence reduced by six months following an appeal. The High Court of Justiciary Appeal Court ruled that while the offence represented a “gross breach of trust” the s

A former advisor to officials of President Vladimir Putin who was convicted in absence of fraud and wanted on other fraud charges has successfully challenged a request for his extradition to Russia. A sheriff rejected a request by the Russian Federation to extradite Dr Alexander Shapovalov after rul