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Police recorded at least 29,922 crimes mentioning cocaine in 2025, as rising consumption of the drug has been linked to assaults, domestic abuse and dangerous driving. A Guardian investigation found that crime rates associated with cocaine across Britain had risen by 10 per cent since 2019, while Ho

Airbnb will prohibit hosts from requiring guests to clean their accommodation before checkout under new rules taking effect on November 20. The policy, applying to reservations booked from that date, bans requirements to wash and put away dishes, strip beds, start laundry or take rubbish off-site.

More than 100 civil society organisations have urged First Minister John Swinney to honour the government’s commitment to include the human right to a healthy environment in a Scottish Human Rights Bill due to be introduced next year. The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment w

Two museums in Glasgow have changed how they display Egyptian human remains following a reassessment of their ethical responsibilities towards the dead. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum has removed the mummified remains of the priest Nekht from public view, while the Hunterian Museum has covered t

Lord Snowden, who was appointed to the Supreme Court earlier this year, has spoken to BBC Radio about his early life and background and his subsequent rise through the legal profession to the UK's highest court. Speaking to Gary Philipson on BBC Radio Tees last week, Lord Snowden recounted how as a

Tom Usher is to take up his new appointment as chair of the East Neuk Festival (ENF). Mr Usher, a competition law expert at Burness Paull, has been a board member of the music festival since October 2025. He is passionate about music and he and his family now live in Elie in the East Neuk of Fife. H

The International Bar Association (IBA) and professional legal organisations around the world have reaffirmed their collective commitment to the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. Their joint statement comes at a critical moment – as both international law and the institutions

A 35-year-old Florida police officer has been accused of taking over the home and identity of a man that he had found dead when responding to a welfare check in 2022. In July 2022 police officer Brian Louis Sguros responded to a welfare check at the home of 71-year-old Dennis West, who had died of n

Our weekly round-up of human rights stories from around the world.

A new help desk providing free support to people representing themselves in court has been launched by two universities in Sheffield. Students from Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield will be trained to help court users understand procedures and navigate the legal system.

We are delighted to advise that registration is now open for our Annual Conference on Friday 20th November from 12:30pm until 5:30pm at the Balmoral Hotel. Under the Law Society of Scotland's Guidelines, delegates may claim 3 hours of CPD time. The conference is open to all solicitors, in-house lawy

The current constitutional arrangements underpinning the lord advocate’s role should be retained unless and until their existing safeguards are shown to be insufficient to sustain their constitutional legitimacy, according to written evidence published in response to the House of Commons Scott

A Canadian man has been convicted of felony and misdemeanour animal cruelty after stealing a flamingo from a Las Vegas hotel while drunk. Mitchell Fairbarn, from rural Ontario, took 27-year-old Peachy from the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino’s wildlife habitat in the early hours of 3 March

The latest UK House Price Index showed Scottish house prices remained ahead of the UK average. Average house prices in Scotland saw a monthly increase of 0.9 per cent from July to August 2026 and annual increase of 2.9 per cent, with the average house price at £198,397. 

Samantha McPhillips, an LLM student at the University of Edinburgh, has won the postgraduate category of the Mason Institute’s 2025/26 Student Essay Competition. Her winning essay, From Risk to Capacity: The Limits of Fusion Law in Reforming Involuntary Treatment, was recognised in the competi