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A motorist who was jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to a charge of drink driving having been caught more than seven times over the legal limit has had his sentence reduced following an appeal. The Sheriff Appeal Court quashed the original sentence imposed on the basis that it was "incom

The average length of custodial sentences in Scotland is at its highest in the last ten years, increasing by 21 per cent since 2008/09, new figures reveal. The Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2017-18 bulletin shows the use of custodial sentences under three months has fallen over the last decade,

Nearly £800,000 in compensation has yet to be collected from Scottish offenders on the foot of court orders since 2011, according to new figures. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), responding to a Freedom of Information request from The Herald, confirmed that nearly nine per cen

Private companies which provide public services should be brought under the remit of Freedom of Information legislation, the UK's Information Commissioner has said. In a new report called Outsourcing Oversight?: The case for reforming access to information law, Information Commissioner Elizabeth Den

The Lord Advocate, James Wolffe QC, has been asked by an opposition MSP to set out his position on the Scottish government's competency to call another independence referendum without Westminster permission. Mike Rumbles, Liberal Democrat MSP for North East Scotland, has written to the top legal off

The English lawyer representing a man convicted in absentia of manslaughter following a speedboat crash which killed a young woman has received a death thread from neo-Nazis. Richard Egan, senior partner at Tuckers in London, received a letter which referred to the 2016 murder of MP Jo Cox, claimed

A man who was ordered by a court to undergo a DNA test in a contested paternity case did not suffer a violation of his right to privacy, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled. In today's Chamber judgment in the case of Mifsud v Malta, the Court held, unanimously, that there had been n

An MSP has cast doubt on the legality of key safe deposit boxes often installed on tenement doors in areas with a high proportion of short-term lets. Andy Wightman, housing spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, said it was "hard now not to notice" the number of key boxes appearing on the front of te

Human rights groups have called for the release of Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang, who has been jailed for four-and-a-half years for "subverting state power". Mr Quanzhang was the last lawyer awaiting a verdict in connection with a 2015 crackdown which targeted nearly 250 human rights la

The Russian government has unveiled plans to allow officials to escape prosecution for bribery or other acts of corruption in "exceptional circumstances". Anti-corruption groups have derided the announced move from a country frequently ranked as one of the most corrupt in the world.

A tenant of commercial premises which challenged an independent surveyor’s determination of the revised rent payable to the landlord has had its action dismissed as “incompetent”. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that that the court had “no jurisdiction” as the par

Aberdein Considine has announced the appointment of solicitor advocate Carly Stewart as an associate in the firm's dispute resolution team. It follows the firm's appointment last year of litigation expert Euan McSherry to lead the dispute resolution practice group.

Scottish contractors are increasingly demanding "Brexit clauses" in construction contracts to ensure they are not liable for costs caused by a no-deal Brexit, The Times reports. The move is sparked by concern that Britain's exit from the EU could lead to increased costs and supply chain disruptions

Children were booked into over 25,000 prison visits in Scotland in the last three years, according to new Scottish Prison Service (SPS) figures. Under-16s were booked into 8,945 visits in 2016, 8,578 visits in 2017, and 7,534 visits up to October 2018.

Former Lord Lyon David Sellar passed away on Saturday at the age of 77. The distinguished legal historian read history at the University of Oxford and law at the University of Edinburgh before qualifying as a solicitor in 1966 and working as a legal assessor at the Scottish Land Court.