Case Reports

The Crown has successfully challenged the sentence imposed on a man who pled guilty to attempting to conspire to rape and sexually assault a young girl and to take indecent photographs of her. The Criminal Appeal Court ruled that the sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment imposed was “unduly lenien

An Egyptian national who appealed against a decision of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, made in agreement with a UN committee, to freeze his assets because he was associated with Al-Qaida has had his appeal unanimously dismissed by the Supreme Court. President of the Sup

A life prisoner who challenged a decision by the prison service to increase his supervision requirement after he was suspected of being involved in the distribution of illicit substances in jail has had a petition for judicial review dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session refused the petition af

A retired academic who contracted a rare form of cancer which he claimed was the result of exposure to asbestos during the course of his employment at a university has had an action for £180,000 damages dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session assoilzied the defenders after ruling that the pursue

A woman who was found guilty of dangerous driving after falling asleep at the wheel and crashing into an oncoming vehicle has lost an appeal against conviction. Judges in the Criminal Appeal Court ruled that in the absence of special circumstances the act of falling asleep is a “voluntary act” a

The owner of a farmhouse destroyed by a fire who claimed that the fire service failed to properly extinguish the blaze has had an action for damages dismissed. The pursuers argued that the fire brigade was liable in damages because the fire re-ignited after it had apparently been extinguished, but j

A prisoner serving a determinate sentence who claims that the Scottish Prison Service have failed to provide him with the opportunity to show that he no longer poses a risk to the public has had an application for permission to seek judicial review dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session refused

A Scots lawyer who was awarded £150,000 after suing a former client, but later saw the decision overturned after a judge ruled that the initial writ was not validly served because the solicitor had been suspended from practising, has failed in an appeal. Judges in the Inner House of the Court of Se

The family of a boy who died in a tragic accident while attending the Royal Highland Show have had a motion for summary against the operators of the event refused. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that the pursuers failed to meet the “high test” required of them for their motion to succeed.

A motion to remit a £25,000 damages action to the new national personal injury court has been refused by a judge in the Court of Session. Lord Boyd of Duncansby held that the fact that a claim was “small and straightforward” was not in itself enough to justify remit to the sheriff court.

The Sheriff Criminal Appeal Court has issued its first judgment, refusing an appeal against sentence by a man who was convicted of assault and a statutory breach of the peace charge. The appellant argued that the sentence of six months imposed on each of the two charges was “excessive” and that

A mother of an unborn baby and a gay friend who hatched a “callous and selfish scheme” whereby she lied to the father of the child by telling him that she had terminated the pregnancy when in fact she gave birth to the baby so that her friend could obtain parental rights and responsibili

A Scots lawyer who was found to have acted in a “reckless and cavalier manner” by accepting an offer to settle a “slopping out” claim on behalf of a prisoner client for whom he was no longer instructed to act has failed in a challenge to a tribunal’s finding that he was guilty of “profes

A firm of solicitors which challenged a claim by the trustees of a fund set up to provide pensions for employees of legal practices and their dependants has failed in an appeal against a judge’s decision to grant decree against the firm to pay its share of a deficit on the fund. Pattison & Sim

A child counsellor with convictions for offences of dishonesty whose application to be the kinship carer for her teenage niece and nephew was refused following a disclosure check has successfully appealed against a decision to include her name on the children’s list. A sheriff allowed the appeal a