News

The Crown Office has lodged a first notice to begin the court process for a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the death of 36-year-old James Stevenson.   Mr Stevenson died on 11 October 2021 at HMP Shotts. He was in legal custody and in the care of the state at the time of his death.  

A round-up of human rights stories from around the world. UN human rights chief ‘deeply worried by fundamental shift’ in US

Legislation has been proposed to reverse a court ruling that held boneless chicken wings could have bones in them. A bill currently before the Ohio Senate would effectively reverse the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling in a headline-making case where a restaurant was held not to be liable for injuring a m

TLT has retained a ‘B’ score for good environmental management, from CDP for the third consecutive year. The CDP is an independent, global non-profit that runs the world’s leading environmental disclosure platform. The most recent disclosure questionnaire featured a number of key c

A lawyer must pay £31,000 to the solicitors’ watchdog after he admitted giving his colleagues disparaging nicknames including “Jabba the Hutt” and “Pol Pot”. Benedict Foster, a former senior solicitor in BNP Paribas’s London offices, was fined £15,000

Police in Glasgow held children in custody for extended periods without recording a reason, inspectors have found. A joint review by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) and Healthcare Improvement Scotland examined custody centres at London Road, Govan, and Cathcart police stations in

A serial rapist who sexually abused multiple women and girls over the course of nearly a decade has been jailed for 15 years. Stuart Harding was found guilty of 12 charges on 5 February 2025 following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. The 35-year-old's offending involved five victims and

A PhD student at University College London has been convicted of the rape of 10 women. Zhenhao Zou, 28, was charged with 35 offences which included 11 counts of rape as well as three counts of voyeurism, 12 counts of possession of extreme pornographic images, one of false imprisonment and eight of p

More crime victims will get access to a range of information about the perpetrator and have a say on decisions about their prison release under newly unveiled justice reforms. Currently victims can register with the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS) if the offender in their case has been sentenced to

Shared Parenting Scotland has published a revised and updated version of its guide – Representing Yourself in Scottish Family Court – intended for party litigants in child contact and residence cases. This is the third edition of the guide, first published in 2012. It has been prais

States and companies are manufacturing, promoting and selling electric shock equipment that is being used for torture and other ill-treatment, said Amnesty International, in a new report calling for a global, legally-binding treaty to regulate the unchecked trade in law enforcement equipment. &ldquo

The average selling price of property in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders saw a notable year-on-year increase during December 2024 - February 2025, rising six per cent annually to £286,443, ESPC reports.  This significant annual rise highlights strong demand in the Scottish h

Charity Crimestoppers Scotland has launched a campaign to help tackle the increase in synthetic opioid drug importation, manufacture and violence associated with the trade. Synthetic opioids are man-made drugs that mimic the effects of natural opioids (such as opium or heroin) but can be much more d

Scullion LAW senior solicitor Stephanie Grieve has won the Military Values in Business Award at the Scottish Forces in Business Awards 2025. The awards ceremony took place in Glasgow last week, uniting veterans, reservists, family members, and Forces Friendly employers to celebrate their remarkable

The UK government has tabled amendments to the Employment Rights Bill following weeks of consultation and responses from business groups, trade unions and wider civil society. The amendments include: