Opinion

The Court of Session has confirmed that courts will enforce any alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provisions which are written into contracts and will uphold the power and discretion of the decision makers in those processes, writes Steven Blane. Lord Lake’s opinion demonstrates that t

Imagine if you couldn’t make decisions yourself. Who would act on your behalf? Who’d pay bills, manage your welfare, and make key decisions? That’s the role of your attorney. The breadth of the control an attorney can have over your affairs couldn’t have been starker in a cas

Lynsey Brown discusses surrogacy regimes and the confusion they often cause. Surrogacy is still relatively rare in Scotland and the UK, but lawyers who specialise in this area are seeing a steady increase in enquiries from prospective surrogates and intended parents.

Ann Logan details calls for an inquiry into the use of sodium valproate (SV), used to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorder, on pregnant women and the suggested avenues of redress. SV, known by Epilim and other brand names, has been prescribed in the UK since 1972. It was known from the outset to be h

The right to education is protected by Article 2, Protocol 1 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Article 14 ECHR prevents the government discriminating against people exercising this right. However, the Scottish government’s Students' Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2007 have been fo

Leah Trueblood, career development fellow in public law at Worcester College, University of Oxford, carefully examines the bill on everyone's mind.  What is the purpose of the referendum proposed in the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill? Is it, as s 1 (1) of the Bill itself says &lsquo

In part one of this article yesterday, we considered the case for saying that taking timber from woodland is one of the recognised servitudes - i.e., included on the list of servitudes known to the law. On the one hand, the list of known servitudes in such standard works as the Stair Memorial Encycl

I was raised in the last house on our road to be built with a fireplace. Ever since I was a lad, seeing houses built without hearths seemed one of the various aspects of modern Scots architecture that was foolish, and sad. How shall we talk to some late hour, without the fire of turf of the ancient

On 22 September, a unique type of Sheriff Court turned seven years old. Its uniqueness among all of Scotland’s sheriff courts is that it can hear civil cases where the incident happened, or the defender lives, anywhere in Scotland rather than just a particular area within Scotland. This court

A recent ruling by the Inner House of the Court of Session has highlighted the need for parties to take care to understand their contractual obligations when seeking to exercise rights under leases, writes Eilidh Smith. The court ruled that Kuehne+Nagel Limited had been required to pay VAT on a

The UK Supreme Court will soon have the opportunity to settle the law relating to the proximity issue of plaintiffs as secondary victims in claims arising from clinical negligence, writes Belfast barrister James Stitt. On 13th January 2022 the Court of Appeal of England and Wales handed down judgeme

See how the cookie crumbles: David J Black recounts a time when politicians, given the chance to practise what they preach, decided to just preach some more.

Andrew Boccoli believes that a question mark hangs over the continuation of fixed-price arrangements. For the past 20 years, convention in the construction trade has been that contractors take on much of the financial risk when they tender successfully for projects. But, as the world attempts to man

The Westminster Health and Social Care Committee, chaired by Jeremy Hunt, published its NHS Litigation Reform report earlier this year, recommending a no-fault compensation scheme for medical negligence be introduced in England. No-fault compensation schemes are used in some countries, including New

Since 1973 and the introduction of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act, the law governing time limits for bringing claims has remained unchanged, despite many judgments which have highlighted ambiguities in the existing legislation. The Scots law of prescription, which is also referred to