News

CMS has announced the promotion of Laura West to partner in its Infrastructure, Construction and Energy Disputes (ICE Disputes) practice. Ms West is dual-qualified in Scots and English law and is a Law Society-accredited specialist in construction law. She teaches construction law to postgraduate st

Thorntons has secured a new three-year contract with City of Glasgow College, Scotland’s largest technical and professional skills education provider and the third largest of its kind in the UK. Thorntons has been providing legal advice to City of Glasgow College since 2016 and expanded its ro

Chinese government officials are reportedly cold-calling women to urge them to get pregnant. The bizarre scheme forms part of the Chinese government's efforts to reverse a decline in the country's birth rate, the South China Morning Post reports.

Clan Childlaw CEO Alison Reid has been awarded the Law Society of Scotland’s inaugural Legal Pioneer Award. The award has been created as part of the Law Society’s 75th anniversary celebrations and has been presented to individuals that have been recognised as offering significant contri

The Scottish Law Agents Society (SLAS) is inviting lawyers to complete a survey on the perceived fairness, transparency, and suitability of the existing legal complaints system in Scotland. Recently, SLAS noted that members of the legal profession have raised concerns and expressed dissatisfaction r

A sheriff has made no recommendations following the death of a prisoner that was caused by substance abuse. Anthony McCarthy died on 28 September 2020 at HMP Kilmarnock.

This week's de recenti judgment marks a significant change to the longstanding rules around corroboration in criminal cases that will likely have far-reaching consequences, the Law Society of Scotland has said. A bench of nine judges made the ruling on 30 October 2024 on an appeal from Lord Advocate

Some of the former partners of Coulters who retired in April 2021 and June 2022 have belatedly celebrated their retirement at the Royal Scots Club. Alastair Shepherd, Ross Mackay and Louise Williams between them had worked for Coulters and its parent firm, Henderson & Jackson WS and HBJ Gateley

The Scottish government's proposed pilot of juryless trials has been abandoned following years of opposition from the legal profession. Justice Secretary Angela Constance told MSPs that, having listened to the cross-party Criminal Justice Committee and a wide range of other views, a plan to enable a

An amendment to the Housing (Scotland) Bill will set out how rent increases will be capped in areas where rent controls apply, subject to the approval of Holyrood. In response to stakeholder feedback, rent increases would be limited to the Consumer Price Index (a measure of inflation) plus one per c

The number of cases being considered by the Scottish government in relation to the Horizon scandal has been reduced to 97, Holyrood's Criminal Justice Committee has been told. Writing to the committee, Justice Secretary Angela Constance, said that 44 of the 141 cases were deemed as not within the re

A round-up of human rights stories from around the world. Iran executes German-Iranian dissident

The de recenti disclosure of an undistressed complainer to a third party that they have been the victim of a sexual offence is corroborative, a full bench of the Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary has ruled – though one judge gave a minority view warning against the effective removal

An English court has reserved judgment on how to handle dozens of divorces which were finalised in error. Final divorce orders were granted between April 2022 and April 2024 in 79 cases where online submissions were received a day earlier than allowed by law, the High Court in London heard yesterday

A rare copyright exemption has been granted by US authorities to allow McDonald's restaurants to repair their notoriously unreliable McFlurry machines. Franchise owners have complained that the machines have a "digital lock" preventing third-party repairs from being carried out.