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The Scottish Government has published its draft Referendum Bill. The bill, which will be introduced into Parliament once the necessary powers are secured, sets out the question 'Should Scotland be an independent country? Yes or No', defines the franchise for the vote, and will include a date upon in

In Earl of Seafield v Tracey Leith [2026] SLC 10, the Land Court held that, in principle, a statutory notice could validly be addressed to a party, using not his personal name, but a trading name which he had used in communications with the party giving notice. On the death of the tenant of a farm i

The Law Society of Scotland has issued a fraud warning after it was made aware of phishing emails purporting to be from the organisation. The email, highlighted by "a number of members", claimed that payment of their membership fees is overdue and invited them to reply to the email for further

WJM has helped raise £2,000 for a Dunblane charity supporting people in crisis after taking part in a community Will-writing campaign. Bartys, a branch of Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP (WJM) based in Dunblane, participated in the Forthgiving Will Campaign, encouraging local people to pu

A five-year "route-map" to modernise Scotland’s land and property tax administration has been published by the Scottish Land Commission. The route-map sets out steps to improve land data, valuation and the systems used to manage land and property taxes – helping Scotland make better use

The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has found that the Scottish government is "failing to meet its human rights obligations" to provide the people of Scotland with an adequate standard of living. In a new assessment of poverty as a human rights issue, the SHRC calls on the Scottish governmen

Aberdein Considine LLP has strengthened its debt recovery and banking litigation department with two key appointments for England and Wales. Accomplished costs and debt recovery lawyer Victoria-Louise Maugham joins the firm’s lender services practice group (LSPG) as head of unsecured recoverie

The estate of Arthur Conan Doyle has successfully blocked a businessman's bid to trademark "Dr Watson" for a clothing line. Joel Brown had applied to register the name for leisurewear, sportswear, footwear and headgear. The Conan Doyle family objected, arguing it clashed with their existing "Dr Wats

Irish police have reassured the public that the sinister-looking Cat in the Hat figures appearing in images of residential areas are AI-generated hoaxes. The images, which circulated on Facebook, appeared to show the Dr Seuss character lurking in streets and driveways in locations including Limerick

A series of measures to "modernise and simplify" the compulsory purchase system in Scotland are set to move forward. Following a consultation on compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) which found widespread support for change, the Scottish government plans to bring forward legislation to ensure they can

Hero Media & Entertainment Ltd (HM&E), the Scotland-based digital news media and events company, today announced the appointment of Donald Martin as consulting managing editor. Mr Martin brings a distinguished editorial career spanning some of Scotland’s most respected newspaper titles

Harper Macleod has been named as a supplier on Government Commercial Agency’s RM6374 – Legal Panel for Public Sector framework. The firm has been appointed to four of the eight available lots:

Our weekly round-up of human rights stories from around the world. Chinese artist jailed over satirical Mao sculptures, say rights groups

The Law Society of Scotland is hosting two online events in September to inform and seek input from legal aid solicitors on new legislation to reform the legal aid system. In July, the Scottish government announced consultation on long-awaited new legislation to reform legal aid, with the society to

Police in India recovered jewellery worth around ₹400,000 (£3,087) after CCTV footage showed that the suspected thief was a stray dog. Lata Bai, a woman from Kayampur, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, reported that a bag containing gold and silver jewellery, around ₹2,000 in cash and food h