News

The fatal accident inquiry into the death of William Kirkwood at HMP Grampian has found no precautions could have been taken to prevent the tragedy. Mr Kirkwood, 50, died by hanging, "with no other significant injuries, and no significant natural disease found" on 29 April 2022.

Burges Salmon has announced the appointment of Magnus Miller as a partner in its dispute resolution team, based in Edinburgh. Mr Miller is a seasoned litigator with experience in advising on a wide range of real estate disputes and commercial litigation matters across both the public and private sec

Judges failed subpostmasters convicted in the Horizon scandal, according to a former director of public prosecutions. Sir David Calvert-Smith, 79, who reviewed scores of appeals for the Post Office, said that in at least 12 convictions, judges ought to have “probed” the prosecution case

Motorists can take to the Autobahn just a few hours after lighting up a cannabis joint under new rules. German MPs have voted to back a new legal driving limit of 3.5 nanograms of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the main psychoactive component of cannabis – per millilitre of blood.

John Stirling and Conner McConnell conclude their critique of housing legislation currently under consideration at Holyrood. See part one here. In our article “The unaddressed issue in residential tenancies” published in Scottish Legal News last month, we drew attention to a deficiency i

Police Scotland has agreed a national contract to implement body worn video for frontline officers and staff across Scotland over the next three years. Motorola was successful in securing the £13.3 million contract, which entails the purchase of 10,500, Home Office-approved VB400 cameras and s

A man who raped two former partners and abused a third over a three-year period has been jailed. Haydn Edmonds was found guilty of four charges on May 7 following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Morton Fraser MacRoberts has announced its first round of promotions since merging. The firm has announced 27 promotions across its five divisions – nine in corporate & commercial, six in litigation, five in real estate, four in private client and three in construction & projects.

The UK’s largest professional probate research, data and technology firm, Finders International, has been acquired by Pelican Capital for an undisclosed sum. The firm's Scottish base is in Edinburgh.

A septuagenarian has been caught with nearly 3,000 boxes of allegedly stolen LEGO sets. Richard Siegel, 71, is accused of masterminding an organised retail theft scheme, with the allegedly stolen boxes ranging in price from $20 to $1,000 each.

Two British judges have resigned from Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal. Lords Collins and Sumption, former justices of the UK Supreme Court, announced their resignations yesterday.

A round-up of human rights stories from around the world. Tiananmen Square anniversary: Hong Kong police detain artist who made sign in the air | The Guardian

The Scottish Child Law Centre has been awarded £25,000 in funding thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery. The award is timely given the increased demand for the centre’s services and a growing complexity of cases. Last year, a pilot community clinic in Govanhill identified

Scotland had a prisoner suicide far above the European average in 2022, the Council of Europe annual penal statistics show. In 2022 Scotland reported a suicide rate of 18.9 per 10,000 inmates; this compares to 9.3 suicides per 10,000 inmates in England & Wales and a European median rate of 5.3 &

McDonald's has lost a trade mark battle with Irish fast food chain Supermac's over the extent of protections for the term 'Big Mac' in the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Supermac's brought the proceedings after the US fast food giant successfully appealed a 2019 decision by the Europ