News

Damages totalling £1.2 million have been awarded to celebrities against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for phone hacking. Actress Sadie Frost has received what is believed to be the highest ever award for phone hacking at £260,250.

JK Rowling has seen "her reputation restored" after her solicitor read out a Daily Mail apology to the author in London's High Court. The newspaper, which published a 2013 article making false claims about the author, printed an apology and paid damages in May 2014, but challenged Rowling's right to

Andrew Mackenzie Andrew Mackenzie, chief executive of the Scottish Arbitration Centre, has been appointed communications officer for the International Bar Association Access to Justice and Legal Aid Committee.

From left: Lindsay Darroch, partner, Blackadders LLP; Campbell Clark, partner Blackadders LLP; Marjory MacDonald; Johnston Clark (managing partner, Blackadders LLP  

A man who sought to a publish a book detailing the his life including details of severe physical and sexual abuse but whose first wife opposed its publication on the basis it would cause psychological harm to their child has won his appeal at the UK Supreme Court. President of the Supreme Court Lord

A man charged with a number of contraventions of the Road Traffic Act 1988, including drink-driving and driving while disqualified, has failed in a bid to have the case against him dismissed over the delay in bringing him to trial. The Criminal Appeal Court upheld a sheriff’s decision to refuse th

Retired lawyer and sheriff William Francis Lunny, born 10 December 1938, has died at the age of 77. His varied career began when he commenced as a solicitor in private practice in Glasgow in 1961.

Justice secretary Michael Matheson MSP The Scottish government has called for submissions of written evidence on the policy and practice of stop and search by police officers in Scotland.

Community safety minister Paul Wheelhouse MSP The Scottish government is consulting on proposals to shorten the timeframe in which workers must disclose previous convictions to employers.

More flexibility in the system for seeking repossession of properties in the private rented sector has been welcomed by the Faculty of Advocates. Initial proposals by the Scottish government last year had listed eight grounds for landlords to use for repossession, and each was to be mandatory – if

Lorna Jack, chief executive of the Law Society of Scotland A record number of solicitors across Scotland, England and Wales voted in this year's election to the Law Society of Scotland's principal decision-making body, the Council.

The Royal Bank of Scotland will pay penalties of $395 million to the United States Department of Justice and $274 million to the US Federal Reserve in the aftermath of investigations into the foreign exchange scandal. RBS has admitted its role in a conspiracy to manipulate the price of US dollars an

A gamekeeper who used an illegal trap to capture wild birds on the Cardross Estate has been given a community payback order and ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work. James O'Reilly was sentenced at Stirling Sheriff Court yesterday, after having plead guilty to four charges under the Wildlif

A Member's Bill intended to deal with irresponsible parking will be introduced at Holyrood today. The law would create an offence for parking on footways and dropped kerbs and would ban double parking.

Lord Hope of Craighead The latest episode of BBC Radio 4's Unreliable Evidence series features retired UK Supreme Court Justice Lord Hope of Craighead and other guests discussing with Clive Anderson the controversial suggestion that the UK should withdraw from human rights legislation and re-instate