News

Law is no laughing matter. Yet when Shona White, a real estate associate with Shoosmiths leaves her Edinburgh office at night, comedy is often on her mind.

President Trump is increasing indefinite detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, it has been revealed. Middle East Eye and the Miami Herald report that administrators for the detention camp have sought to "identify potential contractors" for a new 5,000-square-foot prison compound at Guantanamo.

It will soon be legal to have sex outside of marriage in the US state of Utah following the introduction of new legislation. The state legislature voted by 41-32 this week to repeal the misdemeanour crime of fornication.

A long-term prisoner who claimed that the prison authorities acted “unlawfully” in failing to properly progress his application for home detention curfew had his legal challenge dismissed, but the judge later conceded that he ought to have allowed the case to proceed to a full hearing. T

The European Parliament will retain an office in Scotland following Brexit, BBC Scotland reports. MEPs said the office would advise EU citizens living in Scotland and Scottish organisations seeking to maintain links with the EU.

Measures in a proposed transport law may be a financial burden to local authorities, a Holyrood committee has warned. The Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee has endorsed the general principles of the Transport (Scotland) Bill in its stage 1 report, but called for clarity on how several of

Lord Reed has described some constitutional principles that have emerged from the case law on devolution. In a speech on devolution and the role of the courts delivered at Dover House in London, the Deputy President of the Supreme Court looked at the cases of Robinson v Secretary of State for Northe

A county court in Alabama has recognised foetuses as having legal rights, in what is reportedly the first case of its kind in the US. A decision of the Madison County Probate Court recognised that an aborted foetus had personhood, allowing its father to sue the abortion clinic and others involved in

A judge who told jurors to acquit a human trafficking suspect because God had told him she was innocent has been disciplined. Judge Jack Robison, a district court judge in Texas, made the remarks during the trial of a woman charged with continuous sex trafficking and the sale or purchase of a child,

The High Court of Justiciary has published its reasons for rejecting an application for permission to appeal by a man found guilty of posting a “grossly offensive” video online showing a “Nazi dog”. Mark Meechan, who was fined £800 for breaching the Commu

The legal smoking age would rise from 18 to 21 under new proposals being considered by the Scottish government, The Herald reports. The government will host a conference this year to discuss the increase as part of its aim to create a ‘tobacco-free generation’ by 2034.

Livingstone Brown Solicitors in Glasgow has appointed advocate Ximena Vengoechea to the role of consultant in its financial crime team. Ms Vengoechea brings a wealth of international experience in crime, human rights and immigration work to the firm.

A Holyrood committee is seeking views on the operation of Scotland's freedom of information legislation. The Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee (PAPLS) is undertaking post-legislative scrutiny of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 .

Rape prosecutions have declined to their lowest rate in more than five years, The Guardian reports. Figures reveal that a third of the 2,310 rape cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) between April and September of last year saw charges brought.

A House of Lords committee has drawn special attention to the UK-Ireland Convention on Social Security. The convention seeks to roll over certain social security rights enjoyed by UK and Irish citizens, currently protected by EU law, including rights of free movement.