Case Reports

A man found guilty of assault with intent to rape who claimed that the sheriff misdirected the jury has successfully appealed against his conviction. The Criminal Appeal Court ruled that a “miscarriage of justice” had occurred after the sheriff failed to give appropriate directions on the credib

A man acting under a power of attorney who claimed that a local authority should pay for his elderly mother’s 24-hour one-to-one care at home has had a petition for judicial review dismissed. The petitioner “PQ” argued that the respondent Glasgow City Council failed to perform its statutory du

A Ukrainian widow seeking leave to remain in the UK with her daughter and son-in-law has successfully challenged a decision by the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) to refuse her claim as “clearly unfounded”. A judge in the Court of Session reduced the decision, which precluded a

A motorist who was jailed after admitting driving while disqualified and without insurance has failed in an appeal against his sentence. Stephen Gilchrist, who was sentenced to 11 months imprisonment – reduced from 12 on account of his guilty plea – argued that he ought to have been given a grea

A couple suspected of tax evasion whose home was searched did not suffer any violation of their article 8 rights, the European Court of Human Rights has unanimously held. The proceedings against them had been triggered when information about their assets held in a Liechtenstein bank had been illegal

A man who was sentenced to a total of five years' imprisonment after admitting assaulting police officers while on duty and assaulting a procurator fiscal depute in court has failed in an appeal against sentence. The Criminal Appeal Court dismissed the appellant’s claim the total sentence imposed

A man who was jailed for four months after being found guilty of hare coursing has successfully appealed against his sentence. The Sheriff Appeal Court allowed the appeal after ruling that the sheriff ought to have imposed a “substantial fine” as an alternative to custody.

The unfair trial application of a convicted paedophile has been dismissed as "manifestly ill-founded" by the European Court of Human Rights as it vindicated the findings of the English Court of Appeal that the jury in his trial was impartial. The applicant, Shabir Ahmed, is a British national who wa

A council house tenant who challenged an occupancy agreement after falling into arrears, on the grounds that the local authority failed to consider her ability to pay the rent, has had her petition dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session rejected the challenge after ruling that the petition was b

The executors of a deceased man who paid £150,000 to a woman in order to purchase and renovate property in which they lived together have failed in their claim to recover the money on the basis of “unjustified enrichment”. A judge in the Court of Session refused the claim for payment after ruli

A paedophile convicted of a catalogue of sexual offences against 19 children has failed in an appeal against his “lifelong” sentence. Andrew Byrne, 27, was given an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR) with a punishment part of six years in 2010 after pleading guilty at the High Court in Glasgow

The European Court of Human Rights has unanimously rejected the applications of two men found liable in trespass, following the Omagh bombing in 1998, who claimed they had not been given a fair hearing because the proceedings were essentially criminal in nature and because hearsay evidence of an und

Advocate General Sharpston has stated that the Court of Justice of the European Union should annul the measures maintaining Hamas and LTTE on the EU list of terrorist organisations, on procedural grounds. On 27th December 2001, the Council of the European Union adopted a common position and a regula

A British businessman wanted by authorities in Taiwan to serve a prison sentence after he was found guilty of negligent manslaughter following a drink-driving accident has won a human rights appeal to stay in Scotland. Zain Dean, 44, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment after being convicted of

An owner of land on which electricity pylons have been installed by another party is not entitled to receive a payout for any period when the apparatus was on the land before the date of the grant of the necessary wayleave, a judge has ruled. Lord Glennie in the Court of Session refused a petition b