Case Reports

A journalist who was sued by pro-Brexit businessman Arron Banks for libel in relation to a TED talk video and a tweet has prevailed in the High Court of Justice (Queen's Bench Division). The court found that although the statements in the video were defamatory, there was a legitimate public interest

The Court of Justice of the European Union has confirmed that UK citizens no longer possess EU citizenship after it was asked to rule on the topic by a British woman living in France. The woman, EP, was challenging her removal from the French electoral roll, which in turn required the French court h

A Scottish actor who was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for sexual assault has successfully had the length of his sentence reduced by a year. Kevin Guthrie challenged his conviction and sentence, arguing that his legal representation at trial had been defective in its handling of evide

The Inner House of the Court of Session has ruled that a deceased man who resembled and had the same date of birth as a deceased woman’s third husband was in fact the man she had married in 1991. Directions were sought by Janusy Tomala, the executor dative of the late Elizabeth Don, subsequent

A plater who was made redundant from his job in a workshop at the Port of Dundee has lost an unfair dismissal claim based on an error in an employee scoring matrix before the Employment Tribunal. The claimant, Mr G Swinton, aged 61, was made redundant from his position at Texo Group Ltd on 5 January

The Upper Tribunal for Scotland has ordered a landlord to pay nearly £1,400 to a tenant after quashing the First-tier Tribunal’s decision that payments intended to reimburse the landlord for a council tax payment were not an illegal premium in terms of the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984.

A man convicted of raping his stepdaughter and another teenager has lost an appeal against the conviction in the High Court of Justiciary. The appellant, GC, argued that an affidavit provided by a witness, MB, to his solicitors following his conviction amounted to fresh evidence in terms of the Crim

A former primary school teacher who raised an action seeking damages for personal injury from her former employer has had her claim dismissed by a judge in the Outer House of the Court of Session. It was the pursuer’s case that her employer did not take reasonable care for her safety and expos

An appeal by a Scottish landfill operator against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal that material used in the construction of landfill cell walls should be taxed at the standard rate has been partially successful. Barr Environmental Ltd raised the action in the FtT challenging Revenue Scotland&r

A Crown appeal against a trial judge’s decision to accept a no case to answer submission on behalf of a man accused of raping a woman in a Dundee hotel has been allowed by the Criminal Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary. The respondent, MMI, was acquitted of a charge of contravening

A commercial judge has awarded a former sales representative for a company that sold testing kits a payment of over £245,000 for bonuses accrued over the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. An action was raised by Mast Group Ltd seeking declarator that its employee Patricia Chalmers was not

The Sheriff Appeal Court has held that being in possession of a knife for the purpose of using it to commit suicide is not a reasonable excuse in terms of section 49(4) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 after an appeal against conviction was raised on that basis. The appellant,

A former postal apprentice who was unable to consistently use disabled parking bays at his workplace has been awarded £2,700 in compensation by an employment tribunal. The claimant, Mr S Johnstone, also claimed that he had been subject to a number of discriminatory acts relating to his disabil

A clinical negligence case raised against the Grampian Health Board by a woman who claimed to have suffered back pain following a caesarean section has been refused by a lord ordinary.  Arlene Chisholm claimed that a spinal anaesthesia had been performed negligently prior to the operation, leav

A judicial review petition challenging the policy of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to withhold compensation for victims with unspent criminal convictions has been refused by the Outer House of the Court of Session. A, the petitioner, had applied to CICA, the second respondent, for com