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Sheriffs and summary sheriffs will be recruited on an annual basis at the same time each year under new plans announced by the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland (JABS). The Board has announced the launch of annual shrieval competitions, beginning in spring this year.

Lawyers have complained of court delays this week after a new private company took over the contract for transferring prisoners to court, The Herald reports. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) has said it expects the "operational issues" to be resolved over the course of the week.

Around one in five trials for rape or attempted rape end in a not proven verdict, according to the latest Scottish government figures. There were 2,255 reports of rape or attempted rape in 2017/18, a 20 per cent increase on 1,878 reports in 2016/17.

A local group aiming to bring the former Arbroath Sheriff Court building into community use has been given until the end of march to prove it has enough capital for its proposals, The Courier reports. The Arbroath Courthouse Community Trust (ACCT) has been given a final chance to prove it has the wo

An American politician who employs hundreds of young teenagers has proposed a new law to scrap restrictions on child labour in his state. Republican Senator Chip Perfect's Senate Bill 342 would remove work permit requirements and working time restrictions for 16- and 17-year-olds in Indiana.

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.