News

Sheriff Principal Craig Scott QC A motorist who was ordered to forfeit his £15,000 car after admitting two significant drink-related road traffic offences within a period of just over a week has failed in an appeal against what he claimed was a “disproportionate and excessive” penalty.

The Law Society of Scotland has made a £780,000 payout from its client protection fund to two homebuyers, 13 years after they were victims of a solicitor’s fraud which meant they did not own the Aberdeen flats they lived in, The Herald reports. Sinclair Brebner and his neighbour ColinTorr found o

David Johnstone Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) has approached the Scottish government’s law officers asking them to ensure controversial agricultural holdings provisions in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill are fully compliant with human rights legislation.

James Wolffe QC A Second Edinburgh Declaration has been adopted by the International Council of Advocates and Barristers (ICAB) in a fitting finale to the World Bar Conference 2016.

Paul Gilroy QC A senior UK lawyer has said the new EU trade secrets directive will serve as a deterrent to potential whistleblowers, The Times reports.

The body representing the rank and file of Scotland’s police force has called for the rules on officers participating in politics to be eased. The Scottish Police Federation (SPF), has published a manifesto in which it also calls for the next Parliament to get rid of policing targets and to establ

Marisa Cullen Court proceedings can be speedy but jurisdictional issues can be awkward, writes Marisa Cullen.

Ross Low Thorntons has bolstered its land and rural business team with a new appointment.

Andrew Bevan SLN assistant editor Kapil Summan met Andrew Bevan, from International Justice Mission (IJM), a global organisation protecting the poor from various forms of violence, including slavery, to learn more about its work.

Helena Kennedy QC In the aftermath of the Second World War, the 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed a set of rights for all humankind, belonging to each of us, simply by virtue of being human. Universalism – the idea that they belong to everyone, everywhere – grounds human

Mike Polson Ashurst has signed up to support the Law Society of Scotland’s "Street Law" programme in schools across the country.

The parents of a child who suffered brain damage during birth have failed in a challenge to a judge’s decision to refuse their claim for damages against a health board over hospital’s staff’s alleged negligence. The couple argued that the Lord Ordinary’s judgment did not constitute a “reas

Lord Carloway , Photo Credit: Phoebe Grigor

A cross-border effort has “dismantled” a Romanian crime gang trafficking women into Scotland’s sex trade. Police Scotland, in conjunction with Europol and DIICOT – Romania’s counter-mafia police – raided properties in Glasgow.

Police Scotland has warned that because bars and pubs can legally be deemed “football grounds”, football fans who flout the law during the Scottish Cup semi-final on Sunday risk being banned from future matches. Chief Inspector Stephen Stiff said the minority of people who “spoil the occasion