News

Presiding Officer, Tricia Marwick MSP The case for the introduction of elected conveners for Scottish Parliament committees as a stand-alone reform has not been made according to a report issued today by the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments (SPPA) Committee.

Proposals to strengthen academic freedom in colleges and universities are to be examined by the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Culture Committee as it scrutinises the Higher Education (Governance) Scotland Bill. The bill expands the current definition of academic freedom to cover the freedom

Scottish Secretary David Mundell Scottish Secretary David Mundell told a committee of MSPs at Holyrood today that he would work constructively with them to deliver all the proposals contained in the all-party Smith Commission agreement.

MSPs are today expected to pass the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Bill into law. A spokesperson for the Scottish government said the bill was introduced to fulfil their "long-standing commitment to eradicate gun crime in Scotland".

Jamie Duff Jamie Duff, a dispute resolution solicitor in Harper Macleod’s Inverness office, is getting ready to play a starring role in a special kind of football match.

Justice Secretary Michael Gove Outlining plans to end “grotesque inefficiencies” in the courts Justice Secretary Michael Gove said lawyers may face legislation forcing them to work for free in order to deal with “indefensible inequalities in the justice system”.

Judicial complaints reviewer Gillian Thompson OBE MSPs yesterday heard evidence from judicial complaints reviewer Gillian Thompson OBE in support of a register of judicial interests.

Charles Swan Lawyers have criticised as “absurd” plans proposed in the European Union which would see photographers punished for breach of copyright if they sell or publish images of building or artworks under copyright.

President of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger President of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger said in a speech that judges have taken power from democratically-elected politicians by taking advantage of European and human rights legislation.

Alex Neil MSP Charities and other third-sector organisations that work with people who receive benefits have been invited to play a role in developing Scotland's new social security powers.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson MSP The Scottish government has ended automatic early release for long-term prisoners.

Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone Police Scotland solved more murders in 2014-15 than were committed over the year, according to new performance figures published by the force.

DWF has been awarded the “Closing the Education Gap” accolade at this year’s Scottish Business in the Community (SBC) awards. At last night’s event, which was attended by the president of SBC, HRH Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, DWF was recognised for its innovative education programme 5 S

Naomi Pryde This week's SLN Spotlight falls on Naomi Pryde, a litigation and dispute resolution solicitor at Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP in London. Naomi was recently elected to the Law Society of Scotland's Council, where she will represent the constituency of England & Wales.

The House of Commons Library has noted the absence of proposals on welfare from the Scotland Bill. The proposals were drawn up during the cross-party Smith Commission talks but the principle that discretionary additional benefits must provide extra income is missing while the idea of “no detriment