Case Reports

A Crown Bill of Advocation in respect of a sheriff’s decision to adjourn and later desert a trial diet for a serving soldier accused of sexually and physically assaulting another soldier has been refused by the Sheriff Appeal Court. Respondent Ryan Cooper had been placed under special bail con

The Inner House of the Court of Session has made an order for two solicitors to deliver a file to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission that it had sought as part of a complaint investigation into them, under exception of any privileged material contained in it. It had previously been held by the

The Inner House of the Court of Session has refused an appeal by a manufacturer of cigarette papers against a finding that the company that handled the maintenance of their printing machines was only liable for just over £3,000 of an approximately £29 million loss, and assoilzied the def

A challenge to the legislative competence of part of Scottish legislation aimed at reducing a perceived imbalance in the relationship between the landlords of “tied pubs” and their tenants has been refused by a Lord Ordinary in the Outer House of the Court of Session. Petitioners Greene

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Northern Ireland) Bill is intra vires after it was challenged for infringing the right to freedom of assembly under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court found that placing limitations on where abort

A Lord Ordinary has refused to grant an application made by the daughter of a deceased man for a decree ordaining her adopted sister to seek a full account of her intromissions as both attorney and executor-nominate of the deceased’s estate and to repay the estate for monies she had taken from

The Sheriff Appeal Court has allowed an appeal by a firm that sought the dismissal of an action raised against it by their former commercial agent in Scotland after it ruled that a plea of res judicata should have been accepted by the sheriff. Pursuer and respondent Hugh Beattie originally raised th

A man who was convicted of assaulting his sister and attempting to murder another man at her Edinburgh flat along with a co-accused and was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment has lost an appeal against conviction in the High Court of Justiciary. It was argued by appellant Darren Hughes, who

The High Court of Justiciary has allowed appeals by two of four co-accused found guilty of murdering a man in a drive-by shooting against the imposition of serious crime prevention orders under the Serious Crime Act 2015 due to commence after their release from prison. Darren Eadie and John Kennedy

Two appeals by the Assessor for Lothian against decisions of the valuation committee in respect of damaged land on a Livingston industrial estate have been refused by the Inner House of the Court of Session. It was argued by the appellants that the committee was wrong to focus on whether a potential

A man who alleged that he had lost his left eye as a result of medical negligence necessitating its surgical removal has been allowed a proof in his action against the Greater Glasgow Health Board.  James McGraw, who was diagnosed with a form of skin cancer in 2013, alleged negligence on the pa

A Crown appeal against a trial judge’s decision to sustain an objection against the leading of a docket narrating that the accused in a rape trial had previously raped an ex-partner by removing a condom during consensual intercourse has been allowed by the High Court of Justiciary. Respondent

An appeal by two parents whose youngest children were removed from them following allegations of abuse have lost an appeal against a sheriff’s decision to uphold a children’s hearing decision in the Court of Session. Appellants LO and EO, who along with their children held dual nationali

The High Court of Justiciary has ruled that a Kirkcaldy sheriff erred in failing to grant an order prohibiting a man charged with offences against his former partner from conducting his own defence in respect of two of the listed charges. A Crown appeal was made after the sheriff refused to grant an

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the Scottish Parliament does not have the inherent power to legislate for the holding of a referendum on Scottish independence, as such a law would relate to a reserved matter. A reference to the court was made by the Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, under Schedule