News

A Scots lawyer convicted of embezzling more than £20,000 of clients’ money has been struck off the solicitors’ roll by the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal (SSDT). Paul O'Donnell, of Glasgow, pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in April 2016 to em

A figure from the children's hearing system has said the age of criminal responsibility could be raised to 16. Malcolm Schaffer, head of practice and policy at the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration, told MSPs that the criminal justice system is not necessary to "control behaviour" of

A former director of Citizens Advice Edinburgh has been appointed to lead the Law Society of Scotland’s regulatory work. Craig Cathcart, senior lecturer at Queen Margaret University’s Business School, has been appointed convener of the Law Society’s Regulatory Committee.

A Court of Session ruling has highlighted how technology suppliers can successfully raise claims for relief for delays caused to their work, and how the businesses engaging those suppliers might properly resist those claims, writes Clive Seddon. Agilisys Limited (Agilisys) was engaged by technology

A woman who made a £1.6 million fortune by selling fake treatments for weight loss and cancer has been banned from running a company for six years, The Times reports. Carol Wiseman, 51, and her sister Helen Buchan, 52, both from Fraserburgh, claimed that their Secret Diet Drops led to weight l

Websites that are more than one-third pornographic will have to verify the age of UK visitors under a newly passed law. While the regulations had been delayed as the government sought to amend them, age verification checks will become active from April.

Hundreds of students have signed a petition calling on the University of Oxford to sack a law professor with "extremely discriminatory views against many groups of disadvantaged people". John Finnis, emeritus professor of law and legal philosophy, retired in 2010 but continues to co-teach seminars f

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled in favour of an Azerbaijani journalist who was subject to a sex-tape smear campaign after investigating government corruption. The ECtHR ruled that the Azerbaijani authorities failed to investigate a “sex video” of Radio Free Europe re

Dr Kim Barker of Stirling Law School and Dr Olga Jurasz of the Open University Law School are hosting an evening reception at the Royal Scots Club in Edinburgh on 5 February 2019 to mark the launch of their new book: Online Misogyny as a Hate Crime: A Challenge for Legal Regulation. The book assesse

On 1 December 2017, new legislation came into force which transferred jurisdiction in relation to applications in Private Sector Rented Cases and Private Residential Tenancies to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Housing and Property Chamber. Civil cases relating to the private rented sector are

Police have apologised to a man whose £40,000 car was stolen twice in the same day, the second time from a secure police compound. Robbers armed with knives broke into the home of Phil Chambers, 30, and his fiancé to steal the keys to the Audi RS3.

A Scottish local authority which entered into missives for the sale of land to a property developer and subsequently granted planning permission for the redevelopment of the site was not entitled to rescind the contract on the basis that the appropriate fee had not been paid when the planning applic

Legislation will be introduced this year to close potential loopholes in the law protecting foxes and other wild mammals.   Delivering a statement to Parliament on improving animal welfare, rural affairs minister Mairi Gougeon announced her intention to bring forward a bill that will imple

Commercial litigation specialist Naomi Pryde has joined DWF from Dentons UKMEA LLP. Ms Pryde has particular experience in complex contract disputes, property litigations and the recovery of assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and her work spans English, Scottish and international market

Glasgow firm Miller Samuel Hill Brown LLP (MSHB) has appointed Marie Macdonald as its new chairman, succeeding founding partner, Michael Samuel, who continues as a consultant. Ms Macdonald becomes the first woman to chair MSHB, one of Scotland’s longest-established legal practices.