News

The Scottish government’s bill to lower the voting age to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote in Scottish parliament and local elections is published today. The publication of the bill marks the beginning of the parliamentary consideration process.

The chairman of the police body representing rank-and-file officers has described the force’s statistics as “newspeak” and criticised the suggestion that a statutory code would be a panacea for the problems surrounding stop and search. Brian Docherty (pictured), from the Scottish Police Federa

Perthshire property bosses are welcoming the onset of Spring as they reveal statistics from the first quarter of the 2015.

A follow-up audit by the Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (PIRC) into the quality of complaint handling at the Scottish Police Authorityhas found that the commissioner’s recommendations have been implemented and procedures improved. One of the key areas of concern highlighted within

A personal injuries claims management company has been issued with a monetary penalty by the ICO for making direct marketing calls to people without their consent. Between January 2013 and July 2014, the ICO and the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) registered 801 concerns about the Bolton-based Di

Nominations open today for solicitors hoping to join the Law Society of Scotland’s decision making body. Becoming a member of the society’s council provides an opportunity to help represent and support solicitors in their area, as well as contribute to the work of the society and influence key d

The National Trust for Scotland’s Georgian Housein Edinburgh has become the first property to be registered on the Land Register of Scotland under new powers held by the keeper of the Registers of Scotland (RoS). The recently introduced Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012 allows the keeper

Searching, postal and document management services provider First Scottish have signed up to support the roll out of the Law Society’s new Smartcard. The new Smartcard, currently being delivered to all practising Scottish solicitors, acts as a professional ID recognised across Europe and provides

Scotland’s newest batch of solicitors were welcomed by the Law Society of Scotland in a recent ceremony.

A Polish woman faced with imprisonment in her homeland who claimed that a “serious medical condition” meant it would be “unjust or oppressive” to extradite her from Scotland has failed in appeal against a sheriff’s extradition order. The Criminal Appeal Court was “unable to fault the rea

Graeme McKinstry (left) and Peter Sharp Ayr based law firm The McKinstry Company has acquired the Girvan practice of Murray & Tait.

Douglas Roberts

John Scott QC A new independent advisory group, chaired by solicitor advocate John Scott QC, is to be established to examine the use of stop and search powers in Scotland.

New legislation comes into force today which introduces a new system of debt advice and debt management in the world. The Bankruptcy and Debt Advice (Scotland) Act 2014 introduces a suite of measures, including the "minimal asset process", which offers debt relief quickly and at less than half the c

The first new national Scottish taxes introduced by a Scottish parliament in more than 300 years are being collected from today. Scotland’s new tax authority, Revenue Scotland, is now accepting tax returns – making history as the first national administrator of solely Scottish taxes since 1707.