News

A colony of beavers jumped the gun on a seven-year-long dispute by constructing a series of dams exactly where local authorities wanted to build them. Environmentalists had called for years for the construction of new dams in Czechia's Brdy mountains to reverse damage caused by the communist-era Cze

Lawyers representing 3,500 claimants are preparing to sue Johnson & Johnson (J&J) over alleged links between its talcum powder products and cancer, in what could become one of the largest pharmaceutical group actions in England and Wales. Claimants allege that asbestos-contaminated talcum po

A 61-year-old Aberdeen man who illegally kept and burned waste on a site near an Aberdeenshire village has been ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and placed under 18 months supervision. Derek McAllister was sentenced at Aberdeen Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to a breach of the Envi

A new modern prison in Glasgow to replace the 143-year-old HMP Barlinnie has been given the go-ahead. With the construction contract now signed, HMP Glasgow will have a capacity of 1,344 – adding 357 more places to the overall prison estate once completed in 2028. The total project cost is &po

Holmes Mackillop has promoted Glasgow-based Robbie McAdam from solicitor to senior solicitor within its dispute resolution and litigation team. Mr McAdam joined Holmes Mackillop last August having qualified with a national personal injury firm the previous year before moving to a global commercial f

Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP (WJM) has announced the promotion of Amy Howard to senior associate. Ms Howard, who is based in the Glasgow office, started with the firm as a trainee in 2017.

Lord Beckett has been sworn in as lord justice clerk. The installation ceremony took place at the Court of Session in Edinburgh yesterday.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have called on the Scottish government to reduce the use of remand as new figures revealed that the cost of a prison place has risen by more than £10,000 per year since 2017. A freedom of information request to the Scottish Prison Service has revealed that the av

The Crown Office has lodged a first notice to begin the court process for a fatal accident inquiry into the death of Jacqueline McQuillan. Ms McQuillan, 50, died of bronchopneumonia in Monklands Hospital on 29 October 2018.

The UK government will lay legislation today that confirms a new national living wage of £12.21, and a new national minimum wage of £10 per hour from April.

Pinsent Masons’ Scottish corporate team rounded off a successful 2024 with completion of a range of multi-million-pound national and international deals. The firm’s head of corporate in Scotland, Barry McCaig, said despite challenging conditions, finance would be available in 2025 for th

First Minister John Swinney has firmly ruled out a proposed ban on cats. The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWG) has suggested strict new measures on outdoor cats because of their "significant impact on wildlife populations", the BBC reports.

Lord Pentland was sworn in as lord president and lord justice general at the Court of Session yesterday. He said: “The solemn oaths I have just taken on my appointment as lord president of the Court of Session enshrine the fundamental values underpinning the judiciary: independence, impartiali

The review body for alleged miscarriages of justice in England and Wales is to assess an application from Lucy Letby, the English nurse convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more. Ms Letby, a former nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital, is currently serving 15 whole

Judges in England and Wales have been told not to post about their jobs on social media amid rising online and physical threats, as the Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, launches a taskforce to improve judicial security. In a letter to judges, Baroness Carr said she was “increasingly concerne