Case Reports

A woman who appealed the granting of a contact order on the grounds that the sheriff had not ascribed appropriate weight to child evidence in light of expert evidence has had her appeal refused. The Sheriff Appeal Court, sitting in Edinburgh, heard an appeal by CM, the defender at first in

A man found guilty of the rape of two former partners on the basis of the principle of “mutual corroboration” has had an appeal against his conviction rejected. The High Court of Justiciary Appeal Court ruled that jury were entitled to infer that the two incidents were part of

The mother of a child with selective mutism has been unsuccessful in establishing that it would be in the child’s best interests to relocate to her native Germany and have that be the child's principal residence. Sheriff Ian Cruickshank heard evidence from MK, the pursuer, who sought a residen

A councillor suspended for making inappropriate remarks to a man seeking to renew his taxi licence has had his appeal against suspension refused by a court, in a case providing that when acting in a quasi-judicial capacity the enhanced protection afforded politicians to make political comment, under

A motorist who was found guilty of driving while using a mobile phone after filming the aftermath of a road traffic accident from behind the wheel of his van has seen a decision to quash his conviction upheld following an appeal. Ramsey Barreto was found guilty of a contravention of section 41D

A Hebridean crofting couple who raised an action for damages after a neighbours’ bull strayed onto their land and impregnated their pedigree cow have had their claim dismissed. Bernard and Kathleen Allen, from Great Bernera on Lewis, went to court to pursue a reported £20,000 i

A homeowner who was unable to maintain his monthly mortgage payments has successfully challenged his lender’s bid to repossess the property after appealing against a sheriff’s decision that the bank had validly served a calling-up notice. The Sheriff Appeal Court ruled that a &

A Scottish farming business is entitled to repayment of VAT paid in purchasing entitlements to an EU farm subsidy, the UK Supreme Court has ruled. The justices unanimously dismissed an appeal HMRC after ruling that when the respondent incurred the costs of the single farm pa

An Indian man whose application for leave to remain in the UK based on his marriage to a British woman was refused has successfully challenged the decision. A judge in the Court of Session reduced the decision by the Home Office after ruling that officials failed to take into consideration

Penalties imposed by Revenue Scotland (RS) over the late filing of a land and buildings transaction tax (LBTT) return have been quashed after the tax agency failed to produce evidence that it had taken a decision to impose the penalties, as required by legislation. The Upper Tribunal

A long-term prisoner who claimed that the prison authorities acted “unlawfully” in failing to progress his application for home detention curfew has had his legal challenge dismissed. Niall Dinsmore, then a prisoner at HMP Castle Huntly serving a five-year sentence for a firearms offence

A French national whose application for homelessness assistance was rejected by a Scottish local authority has had a petition for judicial review of the decision dismissed. Augustin-Roger Mokombo-Eboma claimed that, as an EU citizen, he was entitled to homelessness assistance in Scotland and that&nb

A teacher who was “excluded” from a school after raising a personal injury action against a Scottish local authority following a fall at work, and then sought damages for a “depressive illness” he sustained as a result, has had his claim for “psychiatric injury” d

A man found guilty of rape and sexual assault who claimed that the two offences were too dissimilar for the doctrine of “mutual corroboration” to apply has had an appeal against his conviction rejected. The Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary ruled that the circumstanc

A man who was jailed for four-and-a-half years for selling so-called “legal highs” has had his sentence reduced following an appeal. Liston Pacitti and his co-accused Paul Brocklehurst both pled guilty to “culpable and reckless conduct” by supplying quantities of new psy