News

The Housing team at law firm Harper Macleod has seen the overall tally for Scottish housing association funding deals it has advised on in the current financial year approach the £500 million mark after the latest investments were announced. Led by partner Derek Hogg, one of Scotland's leading

Charities working to reduce reoffending will share almost £3 million to fund specialist services including employment training, early intervention and support for families of prisoners. Criminal justice social work service provider Sacro and Families Outside, which supports children and famili

Transgender inmates at a women's prison in London are set to be moved to the UK's first transgender prison unit later this week. The new wing at HMP Downview will accommodate three trans women prisoners, all of whom have Gender Recognition Certificates, BBC News reports.

A mystery donor handed over €32,000 to tax collectors with a note identifying it as "conscience money". The cheque was one of several anonymous payments received by Revenue, the Irish tax authority, over the past three years, totalling €62,562.

The High Court of Justiciary has clarified the status of CCTV footage for the purposes of corroboration, confirming that where the only evidence of the crime libelled is the recorded footage and where its provenance is established, it can provide “sufficient evidence” of the &l

Inflationary increases in civil court fees have been condemned by lawyers as being “inimical to access to justice” as they impose a “substantial burden” on litigants with average incomes and are based on the principle of full cost recovery, which has been discredited by the

The Law Society of Scotland is to carry out research on access to legal advice and services in Scotland following a decade of austerity. The Law Society’s Access to Justice Committee is undertaking two projects which will examine the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), which allows pe

After an outstanding legal career spanning nearly 40 years, Susan O’Brien QC is retiring from practice today. Ms O'Brien was a solicitor for six years before calling to the bar in 1987. She took silk in 1998 and has enjoyed a busy and distinguished practice across a wide range of civil litigat

Advocate and MSP Gordon Lindhurst has again raised concerns about a bill to criminalise parents for smacking their children. Mr Lindhurst has himself prosecuted cases under the current law.

Lord Advocate and former Dean of Faculty James Wolffe QC, has become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s National Academy. Mr Wolffe is among 62 new Fellows, joining an existing fellowship of more than 1,600 individuals who give their time and expertise for free to support t

In what is considered to be a first, a sheriff has ordered indirect contact between a birth mother and her daughter to take place via a Facebook group. Advocate Nicola Gilchrist, instructed by Laura McLean from the Inverness Civil Legal Assistance Office, acted for the birth mother.

Child witnesses could be entitled to have their evidence pre-recorded in the most serious domestic abuse cases, under Scotland’s proposed vulnerable witnesses legislation. The Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Bill, currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament, creates a new rule that c

Turcan Connell has appointed Pete Murrin as a partner in its Glasgow office. Last year, the firm more than doubled the size of its office space in the city with a move across St Vincent Street and at the time signalled its intent to continue to grow its offering in Glasgow, having opened an office t

The UK Supreme Court will sit in Wales for the first time in July 2019. The court will sit in the Ty Hywel building in the National Assembly in Cardiff for four days of hearings from 22-25 July 2019, whilst the Assembly is in recess.

Brodies LLP has been named legal team of the year at the 6th annual Scottish Property Awards.