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Forensic expert Professor Dame Sue Black has called for the creation of a national database of sex offenders' penises to help tackle sexual crimes. Professor Black said that suspects can be identified by their penises alone and that it is the practice among many to upload such photos to we

An annual gathering of Catholic lawyers has become the subject of a row because of the church's handling of child abuse, The Times reports. Leading figures from Scotland's legal profession gather annually at St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh for the Red Mass, which ushers in the new legal year.

John Sturrock QC reflects on the latest edition of Lord Hope's diaries. Earlier this year, I commented on the first of Lord Hope’s Diaries. That volume was illuminating and surprising, not least in disclosing the insecurity which Lord Hope sometimes experienced in his time as a practising QC. Sinc

It is ironic that as the Scottish government make plans to introduce a new benefit to alleviate funeral poverty, one of its agencies, the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AIB), has been cashing in on life insurance policies of people that have passed away, writes Alan McIntosh. This has led to bereaved fam

Tom Wood notes how the Scottish government has neglected one minority group. Scotland has come a long way in its recognition and response to domestic violence. It’s barely 30 years since this endemic curse was dragged out of the shadows and police forces and other authorities started

MSPs from the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee are to visit Dundee, Forfar and Montrose today. The politicians are carrying out fact-finding visits in readiness for two new parliamentary inquiries that get underway at Holyrood this autumn.

Hundreds of staff in prisons have been caught smuggling drugs, phones and weapons into jails, the Observer reports. A freedom of information request made by the newspaper found that 341 staff across England and Wales had been dismissed, excluded or even convicted or cautioned by police in the past s

A man has filed an $800,000 lawsuit against a construction firm which he claims fired him after he refused to attend weekly Bible study meetings. Ryan Coleman from Oregon was hired as a painter at Albany-based Dahled Up Construction in October 2017 and discovered on the job that he was required to a

On 28th August 2018, Lord Docherty issued his opinion in the application of the Joint Liquidators of Doonin Plant Limited for directions. Eric Baijal examines the case. This is the latest in a series of judgments grappling with how the law approaches the liability of officeholders and

A new initiative to drive partnership working between legal professionals in the UK and Nigeria has been announced by Prime Minister Theresa May. The initiative is the latest stage of the Ministry of Justice’s ‘Legal Services are GREAT’ campaign, which aims to promote the UK&r

Iranian authorities have been condemned over their cruel treatment of jailed British charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has suffered panic attacks in prison and collapsed this week. Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been experiencing the attacks since she was forced to return to Tehran’

An anonymous litigant-in-person has been ordered to identify himself to avoid his proceedings against Google in the High Court in London being struck out, the Law Society Gazette reports. The claimant, known only as ABC, has managed to conceal his identity from court staff, the defendant and the jud

Terra Firma Chambers will once again sponsor the Scottish Planning and Environmental Law (SPEL) Annual Conference which will be held on Thursday 13th September at the COSLA Conference Centre, Edinburgh. Now in its 28th year, the SPEL Conference will focus broadly on two main themes - the Planning (S

The Chief Justice of Ireland, Mr Justice Frank Clarke, and the High Court's designated arbitration judge, Mr Justice David Barniville, are set to launch the New York chapter of Arbitration Ireland next month. The event, designed to highlight the attractiveness of Ireland as a seat for arbitration an