Opinion

Prior to the British Nationality Act 1981, any child born in the UK was automatically a British citizen, writes Nikki Weir. The 1981 Act, which came into force in January 1983, introduced the requirement for a child born in the UK to have at least one parent who is British or ‘settled’ a

A recent Sheriff Court decision has reminded employers that, when arguing an employee was contributory negligent for their accident, clear evidence that the employee was appropriately trained can be extremely useful, write Alison McAteer and Rebecca Neilson. The court ruled in Paul Farley v The Scot

The theme for this year’s LGBT+ History Month is ‘Behind the Lens’. Its aim is to celebrate LGBT+ people's contribution to the production of film and cinema from ‘behind the lens’. Roles that are celebrated include directors, producers, writers, score composers, artists

Gwyneth King recently published an opinion piece claiming to set out some facts about the Equality Act as it relates to gender recognition reform. Almost everything she wrote is wrong, writes Dr Michael Foran. King argues that the default position in the Equality Act is that treating a trans woman a

Sandra Cassels discusses the recent changes to the law of prescription and their impact on latent defects in construction projects. The expiry of claims for damages in Scotland is regulated by the Prescription & Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. Section 6 of the 1973 Act provides that claims

Ever since the Court of Session was constituted as the College of Justice, the Faculty of Advocates has played a central role in promoting the rule of law and ensuring access to justice for the people of Scotland. It continues to do so today. Our commitment to excellence in advocacy underpins these

My previous two opinion pieces about the damaging delay to Scottish gender recognition reform, and the media’s portrayal of it, were underpinned factually by the relevant parts of the Equality Act. Given the ongoing widescale coverage of gender recognition reform, and trans rights, it might be

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said her government would “carefully consider” the issues raised by more than 100 businesses after publication of an open letter on a proposed ban on alcohol advertising. Industry big hitters including BrewDog, Diageo, Whyte & Mackay and Tennents di

The Scottish government’s current consultation on restrictions around alcohol advertising and sponsorship has attracted considerable attention. I have myself described it as a “prohibitionists charter”. The consultation was launched on 17 November 2022 and closes on 9 March 2023. I

In her piece on media coverage of the Scottish government’s proposed gender-recognition reform  (1 February 2023), Gwyneth King criticises those who have pointed out that women’s organisations which signed a statement in support of the Scottish government’s policy are recipien

Louise Shiels discusses an English case in which the First Tier Tribunal Property Chamber issued what is likely to be the first remediation contribution order under section 124 of the Building Safety Act 2022. The application was made by 18 leaseholders of a high-rise self-contained block of fl

I recently caught a very spirited radio discussion on the question of whether the Welsh Rugby Union should have banned its fans from singing the Tom Jones standard Delilah at matches. Welsh Women’s Aid took some credit for the decision having argued for years that the lyrics to the song could

Douglas Milne highlights a recent case in the Court of Session which considered the application of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations. An important part of the process for consenting to a development which is likely to have significant effects on the environment is Environmental Impact

In October 2021 the Scottish government published its Space Strategy setting out Scotland’s ambition to become Europe’s leading space nation, writes Jamie Watt. Committing to the delivery of a dedicated launch capability by summer 2023, and with five spaceports in development across the

Walk through any city or major town and you will inevitably pass numerous big, shiny, new buildings and office blocks. Pre-pandemic there seemed to be a race among big firms to offer their employees almost palatial surroundings in which to carry out the day to day of their job. While there has been