News

Police have arrested a parrot which was trained to act as a lookout for drug dealers. The parrot had apparently been trained to shout "mum, the police!" on spotting officers and was seized during a drug raid on Monday.

A man found guilty of rape who claimed that evidence of a charge of sexual assault could not provide “mutual corroboration” for the rape charge has had an appeal against his conviction rejected. The Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary held that the act of penetration need not be

Bristol-based Burges Salmon has announced the launch of its first Scottish office in Edinburgh as it seeks to expand its existing Scottish practice. The firm has appointed Danny Lee, Robert Forman and Craig Whelton as partners in the new office, which will officially open its doors in May.

The Law Society of Scotland has criticised Scotland’s legal complaints handling body for failing to listen to concerns over its plans to impose a third consecutive above-inflation rise in its budget and levy and has highlighted the need for improved oversight of the organisation. The Scottish

Solicitor Carol Gammie and advocate Laura Reilly have been appointed to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) for a four-year term. Ms Gammie is a solicitor, trained with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) before practising criminal defence in Kilmarnock for a num

The Faculty of Advocates has raised questions about the future use of protected trust deeds (PTDs) as a form of statutory debt solution. The Scottish government is consulting on proposals for changes to PTDs – voluntary but legally binding agreements to repay part or all of a person’s de

The Law Society of Scotland has unveiled changes to the Practice Rules which will provide Scottish solicitors with greater clarity on what is required of them in terms of interaction with the Society and anti-money laundering compliance. The new rules will take effect from 3 May 2019, coinciding wit

Given a number of Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) accusations against key suppliers to the construction sector, Jamie Dunne from Brodies has looked into the issue in more detail. The Competition and Markets Authority has recently accused six key suppliers to the construction sector of anti-c

The overall number of Scots facing insolvency in the first quarter of 2019 rose 29.2 per cent compared to the first quarter in 2018, according the latest Accountant in Bankruptcy figures released today. The AiB figures reveal that personal insolvencies rose from the 2,533 recorded in the first three

The Scottish Ethnic Minorities Lawyers' Association (SEMLA) has announced a partnership with Burness Paull to offer a week of work experience to one of its student members. The firm has offered to provide one week of work experience to a student who is currently in second or third year of the LLB de

Staff at Digby Brown in Kirkcaldy raised over £500 for local mental health charity Support in Mind Scotland at the office's annual quiz night.

Young lawyers from across Europe were welcomed to the Lyon Court office as part of their 12-week programme of events in Scotland.

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