News

In a significant milestone in Scotland’s land reform journey, five land commissioners and the Tenant Farming Commissioner have been selected for the first Scottish Land Commission. The appointments, which are subject to Parliamentary approval, are as follows:

The Scottish government may be required to pay out an estimated £500,000 over its "Named Person" scheme after judges in the UK Supreme Court ordered it to pay the legal bills incurred by those who brought the case.All the successful litigants are part of the No to Named Persons (NO2NP) campaign gr

Walter Gerrard & Co of Macduff has taken over A & EA Brodie of Banff. Lesley Sloan of A & EA Brodie will continue for a number of years as a consultant to ensure continuity for clients and staff.

The lending of an electronic book (e-book) may, under certain conditions, be treated in the same way as the lending of a traditional book. In such a situation, the public lending exception, which provides inter alia for the fair remuneration of authors, is applicable, the Court of Justice of the Eur

The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has welcomed the findings of an Inquiry by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into the cumulative impact of UK government welfare laws and policies on the human rights of disabled people. It noted with concern the commi

Michael O'Flaherty Top EU representatives are gathering in Vienna to discuss how to integrate fundamental rights in the security union.

Pictured (L-R): Fiona Hyslop, David Kaye and Baiba Braže

Robert Carr Anderson Strathern goes up against some of the best known names from the Scottish and international business scene this Thursday at the Scottish Business Awards at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre where the full service law firm has been shortlisted for “Fair Work Employer

A bookmaker who claimed that he was “deprived of earnings” because he was not offered a pitch in what he alleged to be a more lucrative part of Musselburgh racecourse on Ladies’ Day has had his case dismissed. Stanley Wood argued that the Musselburgh Joint Racing Committee breached his licence

Last week the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) launched its new civil case management system across all sheriff courts. This paves the way for the introduction of the new Simple Procedure from 28th November 2016 and creates the platform to move towards Civil Online. Civil Online, which w

The Rubik’s Cube shape is not an EU trademark and its non-visible functional elements including its rotating ability should have been considered when it was registered, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled. At the request of Seven Towers, a UK company which manages, inter al

Thomson Legal has published its annual Scotland Market Overview & Salary Survey 2016/ 2017. The legal recruitment specialist found that NQ lawyers in Scotland were seeing top-end salaries of up to £38,000 within the larger commercial law firms this year. Junior partners at Scottish firms can ac

Sir Declan Morgan Northern Ireland’s Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan received a warm welcome in Scotland last night when he delivered the biennial Jean Clark lecture at the University of Dundee and reflected on the role of the judiciary in a modern democracy.

The Faculty of Advocates’ Free Legal Services Unit is helping to train pro bono solicitors and other volunteers in two important areas of advice work. Through the unit, Stephen Winter, advocate, an expert in asylum and immigration law, gave an overview of the UN Refugee Convention and the procedur

The onshore wind industry is the subject of Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie’s new audio newsletter. The first edition also looks at why an outside adviser can make a huge difference to family businesses and what happens when business profits seem to be in conflict with the public interest.