News

The Scottish government has abandoned plans to grant anonymity to child homicide victims. The government ran a 12-week consultation seeking views on possible legislative and non-legislative approaches to reduce trauma that media reporting of child homicide cases can cause grieving loved-ones.

Holyrood will be asked tomorrow to agree to the appointment of a new member of the Standards Commission for Scotland. The role of the Standards Commission is to promote high ethical standards in public life through the promotion and enforcement of Codes of Conduct for councillors and members of devo

Aberdein Considine has boosted its Aberdeen-headquartered corporate division with the appointment of new associate solicitor Michael Leith. Mr Leith joins Aberdein Considine’s corporate and business advisory team led by partner Ritchie Whyte in “one of the firm’s busiest periods fo

A man whose credit card was stolen and used to buy a €500,000 (£414,000) winning lottery scratchcard in France has appealed to the thieves to come forward so they can split the prize. The winning ticket, purchased in Toulouse, has yet to be submitted for collection.

A Scottish government report that fails to address the legal aid crisis has been met with scorn by Dean of Faculty, Roddy Dunlop KC. The Short Life Working Group on the Future of the Legal Profession, consisting of lawyers, government representatives and others was established in 2022. Though it met

Birkenstock has failed in a legal bid to have its iconic sandals recognised as works of art. The footwear manufacturer failed to convince the highest civil court in its home country of Germany that its cork-soled shoes should still enjoy copyright protection.

Reported crime on Scotland’s rail network has risen by one-third since before the pandemic, with increases in violence, antisocial behaviour, and sex crimes described as “deeply worrying”. Figures from British Transport Police (BTP) show that total reported crimes increased fr

A legal aid application for the private prosecution of footballer David Goodwillie for rape has been approved by the Scottish government. In 2017 a sheriff in a civil case found that Mr Goodwillie and former teammate David Robertson raped Denise Clair.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance has pledged to explore “transitional arrangements” to prevent prosecutors from dropping thousands of criminal cases as statutory time-bar limits revert to pre-pandemic levels later this year. With Scotland’s criminal justice system already under p

The Revitalising Trusts project, a collaboration between The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and Foundation Scotland, has been working with legal teams to release dormant charitable funds for public benefit. Over 300 inactive charitable trusts of varying sizes and purposes have been identified to

A sex offender who travelled to Scotland to rape a child after messaging her on Snapchat has been given an order for lifelong restriction. Wayne Phillipson was found guilty of attacking the victim following a trial at the High Court in Livingston in August 2024. The 48-year-old, from Durham, sent th

Strathclyde University has won this year's Lord Jones Moot Competition. The competition is named in memory of University of Dundee Law School alumnus Lord Jones, who was instrumental in its founding and judged the final in 2016.

Macdonald Henderson has again topped the legal adviser rankings in Scotland with 44 deals, the latest Experian M&A report shows.

A coroner's finding that the 1992 shooting by British soldiers of four Provisional IRA men at Clonoe Chapel was not justified has been referred to prosecutors. Mr Justice Michael Humphreys ruled earlier this month that the soldiers, who belonged to a specialist military unit (SMU), held no honest be

A new independent commission has been established to review sentencing and penal policy and identify the most effective ways to address offending behaviour to help reduce crime and lower the number of victims. The Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission will be chaired by Martyn Evans, former chair o