News

From left: Brandon Malone, chairman of the Scottish Arbitration Centre; Professor Pieter Bekker of CMS Cameron McKenna and ICEA partner CEPMLP; Andrew Mackenzie, chief executive of the Scottish Arbitration Centre; and Philippa Charles, head of international arbitration at Stewarts Law.

The devolution (further powers) committee today published its report on the section 30/63 order that would see the powers allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in future Scottish parliament and local authority elections transferred to the Scottish parliament. The Smith Commission recommended the tran

CMS has announced the appointment of partners Shona Frame (pictured right) and Ian McCann, adding further resource to the firm’s growing construction team in Scotland. Ms Frame, a construction disputes specialist, will be joining the firm from MacRoberts.

The Law Society of Scotland has welcomed proposals for new legislation to tackle human trafficking but believes more protections are needed for victims. Alan McCreadie, deputy director of Law Reform at the Law Society, said: “Human trafficking is an appalling crime and it is absolutely right that

Parents and people with disabilities are being hit hardest by the UK government’s programme of welfare reform according to new research commissioned by the Scottish parliament’s welfare reform committee The report, published today, represents the first time the impact of the UK government’s we

The protection of human rights, growing the economy and gaining long term clarity on the UK’s membership of the European Union should be among the key priorities for political parties, the Law Society of Scotland said today. The Law Society has published a new document, which sets out four major p

A lawyer who breached a court order that meant he could not work as a solicitor has been jailed for three months. John O’Donnell, 64, ignored the terms of an interdict granted in 2009 at the Court of Session preventing him form practising for five years after a ruling of the Scottish Solicitors Di

A party to a legal action who was ordered to pay £150,000 to a Scots lawyer who was suspended from practice has had the decree which was granted in his absence reduced. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that the initial writ served by the solicitor was “defective” because he had been suspen

It has been brought to our attention that yesterday's story entitled “Part-time sheriff suspended over hedge fund probe” contained an inaccuracy. Mr Watson’s suspension was in respect of a court action by a liquidator for payment against a firm of solicitors of whom Mr Watson is a former partn

The UK government has published a joint national protocol on crime committed in prisons which aims to reduce violence in prisons. The new joint protocol produced by the Prison Service, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) provides that when there are seriou

Morton Fraser’s family law team have won three awards for demonstrating best practice and excellence in their field at the Corporate Livewire Awards.

The Court of Appeal has today handed down a judgment permitting the Law Society of England and Wales to challenge an earlier ruling over government reforms of criminal legal aid. The Law Society had appealed a High Court decision which could result in the market collapsing.

At the Global Law Summit in London this week a panel session addressing gender diversity in the legal sector and the lack of representation at senior levels was delivered by Skarbek Associates and Women in Law London (WILL). The session, entitled ‘Women in Law: the pipeline is broken. Why this mat

Birth damage claims are generally considered to be the most complex type of medical negligence cases. The alleged negligence usually relates to failures on the part of obstetric and/or midwifery staff shortly prior to delivery (with the pursuer arguing that earlier delivery is likely to have avoided

Greater protection against prosecution should be afforded to victims of human trafficking, the Faculty of Advocates has suggested. Planned new anti-trafficking legislation relies on guidelines by the lord advocate to save victims from being taken to court for offences committed due to their exploita