News

A man found guilty of murder whose conviction was later quashed following a successful appeal has had a legal bid for compensation for the years he spent in prison refused for a third time. A judge in the Court of Session dismissed the petition for judicial review of a decision to refuse the applica

David Johnston QC David Johnston QC, who serves as a Scottish law commissioner, is among 56 new Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

John Swinney New legislation introducing a tax supplement on purchases of additional residential properties has been passed by the Scottish Parliament.

Michael Matheson The Scottish government has agreed to make legal aid available for the families involved in the 2014 Glasgow bin lorry tragedy.

Professor Lorne Crerar Harper Macleod has won a tender to work with the Care Inspectorate in respect of litigation matters. The appointment is the latest in a succession of high-profile tender wins under the new Scottish Government Legal Services Framework.

Holyrood has passed a bill intended to strengthen the management of Scottish universities. The Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Billwas passed by MSPs by 92 votes to 17 following its stage 3 consideration yesterday.

Kirsty Malcolm A plea for greater publication of judgments dealing with financial provision at the end of cohabitation has been made by advocate Kirsty Malcolm.

The Law Society of Scotland has criticised the Scottish government’s widely ridiculed Lobbying (Scotland) Bill, pointing out it fails to even include emails in the list of communications between companies and politicians that would need to be declared in a proposed lobbying register. The proposals

Philip Rodney Burness Paull LLP has secured its position as Scotland’s biggest and busiest transactional corporate law firm in Business Insider’s list of the top performing legal dealmakers.

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of a company which claimed a rival had infringed its design of a ride-on suitcase for children, affirming criticisms made by the Court of Appeal that the Community Registered Design (CRD) for the product was not simply a claim for a suitcase shape but for a

The niece of a woman who signed a deed disponing of her family home to other members of the family has been granted decree of reduction on the grounds that her aunt was “incapax” at the relevant date. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that the deceased “did not have the necessary capacity�

A property developer which sued two separate companies for breaches of contract after both failed to complete the purchase of an area of land has had an action based on joint and several liability dismissed as “incompetent”. A judge in the Court of Session observed that in order for joint and se

A challenge to the Scottish government's plan to appoint a named guardian to every child in the country will be heard in the Supreme Court today. Four charities and three individuals lodged an appeal after the Court of Session twice rejected their case. The Supreme Court hearing is expected to last

The Law Society of Scotland has said the effects of an additional tax on second homes should be monitored closely to ensure that people who are simply trying to move house are not caught out by the proposed new charge. The lawyers' body intervened ahead of the stage 3 debate on the Land and Building

Kenny Crawford A total of 97,701 residential property sales worth more than £16.5 billion took place across Scotland in 2015, according to new statistics from Registers of Scotland (RoS).