News

Beavers have destroyed a warning sign erected by foresters in southern Poland to alert the public to damage caused by beavers. The forestry district of Lubliniec shared photographs of the damaged sign on social media. Its message, “Warning! Damage caused by beavers”, had been displayed o

An AI transcription tool used by probation officers in England and Wales could save an estimated 450,000 staff hours a year, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) case study. Justice Transcribe, developed by the Ministry of Justice and HM Prison & Probation Service, records notes of meeting

The Highland Solicitors Property Centre (HSPC) has closed after 40 years, citing a decline in the number of local solicitor firms that made its business “no longer financially viable”. The organisation, which served property buyers and sellers across the Highlands, moved from its Queensg

The Archie Foundation has partnered with Aberdein Considine LLP to offer discounted referrals for will-writing services for people across the North-east of Scotland. Aberdein Considine will provide a 15 per cent discount on the creation of a will for people who use a referral code from Archie, which

The International Bar Association (IBA) has condemned US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), warning that they could undermine its ability to investigate and prosecute international crimes. The US administration imposed sanctions on the court itself on 9 October, escalating ear

The University of Strathclyde is holding two free events exploring the implications of time travel, money and emerging technologies as part of the Festival of Social Sciences. A children’s workshop, running from 11.30am to 12.30pm, will use time-travel stories to examine questions of fairness,

Scottish businesses employing overseas foreign workers are increasingly exposing themselves to significant legal and financial risk because they do not fully understand their legal obligations, an immigration lawyer has warned. Gurjit Pall, a partner at Lindsays, said he is concerned that the import

Scottish government reforms to legal aid must produce a fairer and less complex system to restore access to justice, according to the Law Society of Scotland. The Law Society responded to the government’s consultation on a new Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill with a submission broadly supportive of t

A New Zealand bank has found itself in the middle of a free-speech row after attempting to remove explicit memes of its new sheep mascot from social media. Kiwi Bank introduced Buck in June with an ad campaign designed to encourage customers to stop "following the flock".

The Council of Europe has called on Belarus to halt executions as part of renewed efforts to abolish capital punishment across Europe. The call came as the organisation held its first event at its Information Point for Belarusians in Vilnius, Lithuania, yesterday, marking the World Day Against the D

The judiciary in England and Wales will allow AI to support court work but not replace judicial decision-making, under a new position statement setting out safeguards for the technology’s use. The statement, issued by Sir Colin Birss, president of the business and property division and lead ju

The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has written to First Minister John Swinney following the publication of updated statistics showing a rise in deaths related to illicit drugs. The human rights watchdog says the continued scale of drug deaths in Scotland remains a serious human rights conce

The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) has called for “transformational change” as the Scottish government prepares to overhaul the publicly funded system. SLAB has set out its proposals in response to a government consultation on reform, amid concerns about the current system’s &ldqu

Thorntons has appointed Stephanie Mann as a partner in its Aberdeen office to lead the firm’s residential property practice in the city. Mann was born and educated in Aberdeen and has built her career in the North East. She trained at Aberdein Considine, spent six years with the firm, ran its

The UK government has launched a consultation on rewarding whistleblowers who report economic crime such as fraud and bribery.