News

A man who drove a seriously intoxicated woman to A&E where he told a nurse that he had also been drinking and taking drugs and admitted to police officers that he had driven to the hospital has lost an appeal against his conviction for drink-driving. It was argued on behalf of the appellant that

Lord Carloway The lord justice clerk has attacked the UK Supreme Court, calling it remote and “far removed” from the realities of Scots law.

James Chalmers Professor James Chalmers discusses the curious case of RR v HM Advocate HCJAC 34, summarised here.

Derek Adamson The Scottish bill to recover medical costs for asbestos diseases will lead to over-burdening costs on compensators as well as delays to the claims process and will do little or nothing to improve the overall care services for asbestos victims, DWF has said.

Sir Crispin Agnew QC A 15-year struggle for disabled access to a Highlands churchyard could be on the brink of success, thanks in part to the Faculty of Advocate’s pro bono service.

Lou Andreozzi A new web domain exclusively for the legal sector is accepting applications of interest.

Judges will need to look at claims jurors have unlawfully searched for information on their trials online under new laws that have come into force. New criminal offences of researching details of a case, sharing these details and disclosing details of jurors’ deliberations online have been created

A woman who was fined £1,000 after being found guilty of a “racially aggravated offence” has had her sentence quashed after appeal judges said they had “difficulty” in comprehending why she was prosecuted in the first place. The Criminal Appeal Court admonished the appellant after observing

A 20 million euro plan to double the number of judges in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is set to go ahead despite the court itself opposing the plan. The UK, which is opposed to the planned increase, is likely to be outvoted on the decision when Europe ministers meet next month.

The solicitor general, Lesley Thomson QC (pictured), has said the fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the Glasgow bin lorry crash will look at the driver’s background, technical aspects of the vehicle itself and the safety of the route taken by the lorry. Six died and four were injured in the incide

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange (pictured) is to address a conference of lawyers in Glasgow via video link from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London this week. Mr Assange, who has spent the past 34 months in the embassy building after he claimed asylum, is to discuss how mass data gathering infringes p

The former editor of defunct newspaper News of the World is to stand trial in Scotland next month on a charge of perjury. Andy Coulson, 47, was due to appear at the High Court in Edinburgh next week but at a preliminary hearing a judge set a new date of May 11 for the trial.

The auction house Christie’s has removed over £1.2 million worth of ancient artefacts after an academic from a Scottish university identified them as being linked to criminal networks in Europe The Scotsman reports. Dr Christos Tsirogiannis (pictured), a research assistant at the University of Gl

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Glasgow-based Clydesdale Bank £20,678,300 for serious failings in its Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) complaint handling processes between May 2011 and July 2013. It is the largest ever fine imposed by the FCA for failings relating to PPI and Clyde