News

Eric McQueen While lawyers have told Scottish Legal News that High Court trials delays are due to court capacity, Eric McQueen, SCTS chief executive, argues that the answer is not to create more courts but to radically reform the justice system, putting digital technology at its heart.

Members of Compass Chambers will be serving meals instead of legal papers on 31st January as part of the The Big Sunday Lunch in aid of the Child Brain Injury Trust, Scotland (CBIT). Compass is delighted to be co-sponsoring the event which is taking place at The Wee Restaurant in North Queensferry.

Her Honour Mary Jane Mowat Those accused of sexual crimes should be given anonymity because of the “stigma” that attaches to the offences according to a retired judge.

Kate Frame The head of the police complaints watchdog has called for further powers in order to force officers to give evidence.

Andrew Smith QC Compass Chambers has announced that Andrew Smith has been successful in his application for silk in England and Wales and will now become a QC north and south of the border.

Jim Eadie The general principles behind a bill that aims to introduce a new single tenancy for the private rented sector have been given support from a committee of MSPs, though some suggestions for improvements have been recommended.

Angela Constance The Scottish government has said it will move to strengthen legislation aimed at improving the inclusivity and transparency of higher education governance.

A man who murdered a neighbour by stabbing him in the neck has been sentenced to life in prison. Martin Carroll, 28, had earlier pled guilty to a charge of murder. He was jailed for a minimum of 14 years years after being given a mandatory life term.

Simon Allison Simon Allison explains how to avoid making the same mistakes as Obi Wan Kenobi when training your Padawan.

A motion to remit a £25,000 damages action to the new national personal injury court has been refused by a judge in the Court of Session. Lord Boyd of Duncansby held that the fact that a claim was “small and straightforward” was not in itself enough to justify remit to the sheriff court.

Lord Hain Laws are being drawn up by a group of cross-party politicians for a new Act of Union to “wrest back the initiative from the separatists” and ensure the preservation of the 300-year-old United Kingdom.

The Herald has published an obituary of Sheriff Irvine Smith QC, who died on Monday 11 January 2016 at the age of 89.

Employers are entitled to read private messages sent over the internet by employees during work the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled. Judges ruled a company had the right to read an employee's messages sent via Yahoo Messenger during working hours.

Stephen McGowan (left) and Niall Hassard TLT has appointed Niall Hassard as a legal director in the firm’s licensing team.

Katy Wedderburn MacRoberts LLP has warned businesses to prepare for the introduction of the national living wage, or face being “named and shamed” by the UK government. They have also been warned to keep better records and prepare for higher expenditure, in order to afford to pay the NLW.