Features

Word reaches your scrivener that a well regarded seasoned journalist by the name of Claire Atkinson is engaged in writing an unauthorised biography of the old boss we both used to share, namely one Rupert Murdoch. But will she cover everything? Fans of the brilliant, yet chilling, HBO series Success

The study of crime in a specific area is hardly a new idea: famously, Jack House wrote The Square Mile of Murder, which has its own Wikipedia page, about four classics of the genre in Glasgow. Neither is the study of crime in wartime a new idea, as can be seen in the bibliography to this new contrib

While commemorating Scottish lawyers who fell during the two World Wars, we reach a sad anniversary on Christmas Eve regarding the death of Major Ernest Alexander Maclagan Wedderburn (otherwise known as Sandy). Major Wedderburn died 80 years ago on 24 December 1944 as a result of a tragic accident.

Rod Maclean takes a look at a high-profile family squabble. Media business magnate Rupert Murdoch’s family’s public drama regarding ownership is perhaps the biggest family business law story of a generation. Beneath the glitz lies a classic archetype of succession squabbles. Families &nd

Dr Andrew Forde responds to the furore over Ireland's intention to intervene in cases brought against Israel and Myanmar under the Genocide Convention. On 11 December, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin announced Ireland’s intention to intervene in the

Ian Moir is well known in legal circles both as one half of Glasgow-based criminal law firm Moir & Sweeney Litigation and as the outspoken convener of the Law Society of Scotland’s Criminal Legal Aid Committee. He almost didn’t become a lawyer at all, though. Having been told while a

Dean of Faculty Roddy Dunlop KC reminds us that there is a presumption of innocence – for now. The age of social media has brought many benefits. Members of the public are able to engage with a number of issues – from the banal to the fundamental – in a way that was not previously

The "story of law’s reasonable person" is one that has "many beginnings and no end", according to Professor Valentin Jeutner, of Lund University, Sweden. Identifying the concept of such a person is not an easy task, given, as the professor discovered, there are over 250 statutes and 10,000 cou

David J Black tackles the issue of the day. One of the more annoying things about the British media in general, and the navel-gazing BBC in particular, is the irritating habit they all have of prioritising so-called news stories which are so trivial and ephemeral they barely deserve to make the insi

Irish lawyer Dr Barry Scannell examines a recent trademark case in which ChatGPT represented one of the parties. Good idea: Getting a well-trained lawyer to represent you in a trademark dispute. Bad idea: Having ChatGPT represent you in a trademark dispute.

A new “failure to prevent fraud” offence will impact organisations across the UK and internationally, requiring them to complete risk assessments and implement rigorous fraud prevention procedures and policies in place if they are to avail themselves of a statutory defence, writes Tom St

“This budget invests in public services, lifts children out of poverty, acts in the face of the climate emergency, and supports jobs and economic growth.” That’s according to the finance secretary, Shona Robison, in the Scottish government’s 2025/26 budget statement, wri

The Damages (Scotland) Bill, appended to the recently published Scottish Law Commission Report on Damages for Personal Injury, contains some important proposed reforms which are intended to modernise Scots law and resolve certain difficulties, writes Lady Paton. The report recommends the amendment o

The title of The Herald’s recent Beyond Breaking Point: Scotland’s Legal Aid Crisis series reflects the reality of legally-aided lawyering in Scotland, writes Dr Ben Christman. The concerns expressed in those articles over the bureaucracy of the legal aid system, the inadequate pay rates

Events previously known as the ‘English Civil War’ are now given different titles because of a general recognition by historians that separate events elsewhere collectively constituted a single entity. Some historians have described events as ‘The British Civil Wars’. The war