News

A woman sued for defamation by her ex-husband over her claim on Facebook that he “tried to strangle me” has had her appeal unanimously allowed by the Supreme Court on the basis an ordinary reader of the post would have interpreted it as meaning the ex-husband had grasped the woman by the

Ledingham Chalmers has announced seven promotions — including two at partner level — in its Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Stirling offices. The firm said these promotions, effective from 6 April, are in line with its continuing focus on growth in sectors including rural, commercial proper

Pictured (L-R): Johnston Clark, John Dargie, Siobhan McGuigan and Jack Boyle Blackadders Solicitors has announced four promotions across its Scottish offices.

Tougher action on littering from vehicles is to be introduced as part of a future Circular Economy Bill, Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham has announced. There are 1,300 bags – nearly seven tonnes – of rubbish gathered from the sides of the M8 and M9 alone each month.

Dentons has announced the promotion of 25 new partners from the UK and Europe, including three in Scotland. Edinburgh-based Donald Smith and Glasgow-based Craig Kennedy and Alison Weatherhead have all been made partners in the latest promotions round.

HM Connect, a support and referral network for law firms in Scotland, is launching a new networking group to help unlock the entrepreneurial vision of the next generation of legal business leaders. The Legal Entrepreneur's Breakfast Club, which will hold its first event the offices of Harper Macleod

Bullying and sexual harassment of women in the legal profession is greatly exaggerated, the Lord Chief Justice has said. Lord Burnett of Maldon told the Lords Constitution Committee that a small minority of judges behaved badly towards female barristers and that there was no evidence of a wider prob

The Edinburgh University Mooting Society has had a busy year, having last month hosted the finals of both the Pinsent Masons Junior Mooting Competition, exclusively for first year students; and the LexisNexis Senior Mooting Competition for second, third and fourth year students. More than 100 studen

The impact of budget cuts on the criminal justice system in England and Wales is set to be highlighted in cinemas across the UK in a new advert for The Secret Barrister's book. The anonymous lawyer's book, The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken, was reviewed in Scottish L

The judiciary in Zimbabwe has spent £120,000 on new powdered wigs in a move that has drawn criticism. The African country is in the midst of economic crisis, struggling with its highest inflation rate since 2008 and widespread fuel and medicine shortages.

Members of the legal profession are invited to give their views on proposed changes to the accounts rules in advance of the Law Society of Scotland's annual general meeting on May 30. The society’s Client Protection Subcommittee has put forward proposals to introduce two rules preventing

The Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (PIRC) has proposed legislative amendments to strengthen the organisation’s ability to carry out its key functions: to investigate serious incidents involving the police and to review how the police handle complaints made about them. In its s

A new Clerk of the Faculty of Advocates, Richard Pugh, has been elected in a seven-way contest.

The Scottish prison population fell by 4.1 per cent between 2016 and 2018 while the overall imprisonment rate in Europe fell by nearly seven per cent, new figures reveal. The Council of Europe's Annual Penal Statistics for 2018 (SPACE), published yesterday, reveals that a downwards trend in European

Court forms used to seek the views of children in family and civil partnership actions are to be replaced with revamped child-friendly versions. The Family Law Committee of the Scottish Civil Justice Council has carried out work on an instrument that will replace the current court form.