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It was "not reasonable or necessary" for a police officer to discharge a Taser on a 28-year-old man in Bannockburn last year, the Police Investigation and Review Commissioner (PIRC) has found. The watchdog has published its report on an incident which took place outside a pub in Quakerfield, Bannock

The Scottish government has welcomed new figures revealing that the number of firearms offences in Scotland hit an all-time low last year. Police recorded 348 offences in 2017-18 in which a firearm was alleged to have been involved, a decrease of one per cent from 2016-17 (350 offences) and 13 per c

Police forces in England and Wales will be required to offer free sanitary products to female detainees under new plans announced by the Home Office today. The changes will also require police forces to make arrangements for all detainees to speak in private to a member of custody staff of the same

A university professor who taught his students to make ecstasy, amphetamines and synthetic cannabis is facing prosecution. The professor of pharmaceutical science, whose studies focus on dangerous and illegal drugs, took the students' product into his possession afterwards.

The Scottish government had no intention to reverse cuts to the legal aid budget made in 2011, contrary to claims made by the Edinburgh Bar Association (EBA) that these savings were meant to be temporary, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf stated as he announced an impending consultation with the profes

CLT Scotland’s advanced offer for the first event in the Scots Law 2019 Exhibition/Conference Series ends today.

Two police officers involved in the incident which led to the death of Sheku Bayoh have successfully challenged decisions to refuse their requests to retire on medical grounds. PC Nicole Short and PC Alan Paton, who have both been sick leave since the incident four years ago and who have yet to be t

Shepherd and Wedderburn has elected Andrew Blain as its new managing partner with effect from 1 May 2019. Mr Blain succeeds Stephen Gibb, who was first elected in 2012 and led the firm through the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

International law firm CMS has announced the appointment of energy and renewables specialist Chris McGarvey as a partner in Glasgow. Mr McGarvey arrives from Pinsent Masons and will join CMS on 1 May.

The Faculty of Advocates has reiterated its opposition to the introduction of a "serious harm" test before defamation actions in Scotland are allowed to proceed. The Faculty's intervention comes as the lawyer who represented Kezia Dugdale in a recent high-profile defamation case brought by a pro-ind

Almost half of the Scottish government’s major infrastructure projects have been subject to delays, with prisons suffering the biggest hold-ups.

Inspectors have issued a report on Scottish Border Council's (SBC) criminal justice social work services following the first inspection of its kind. The Care Inspectorate sent a team to the area between November 2018 and January 2019 to look at how local services are delivering for individuals who a

Nearly 2,000 prosecution barristers in England and Wales have said they are open to taking action – including refusing to take on new work – in a dispute over remuneration and workload. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) revealed that 95 per cent of the over 2,000 prosecution barristers

Scottish lawyer Polly Higgins, an internationally-renowned environmentalist, has passed away at the age of 50. Ms Higgins studied at Aberdeen University, Utrecht University and the University of Glasgow, but practised as a barrister in England, The Herald reports.

James Lloyd, partner at Harper Macleod, writes on how people are being caught out by the requirement for homeowners to remortgage or sell their property at the end of a trust deed to realise the capital. Scotland offers several statutory debt consolidation and payment schemes for those who find them