News

Plans to enable councils to raise the amount of council tax paid on empty and second homes will be included in a new consultation to help increase housing availability. First Minister Humza Yousaf will announce proposals at the Scottish Trades Union Congress today which could give councils powers to

Terminally-ill children under the age of 12 will be able to avail themselves of assisted dying in the Netherlands for the first time under a proposed widening of the country's liberal euthanasia regime. Since the early 2000s, Dutch law has provided for euthanasia for adults, children over the age of

France is on the cusp of adopting new legislation to regulate influencers amid claims some promote financial scams, defective products and dodgy cosmetic procedures.

Victims and witnesses are set to use virtual reality headsets to familiarise themselves with giving evidence in court as part of a Scottish government initiative to allay fears or discomfort around the process. Ahead of giving evidence in court, the £500,000 virtual court project will allow pe

Solicitors and law firms are being invited to attend a demonstration of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service’s new Civil Online platform. The new portal has been developed to include the legislative change required for Act of Sederunt (Simple Procedure Amendment) (Miscellaneous) 2022

A reclaiming motion by a Scottish mother challenging the return of her two children to their father in the USA on the basis of a grave risk defence has been allowed by the Inner House of the Court of Session. Reclaimer SD was the original respondent in an action raised under the Hague Convention on

A small charity providing legal and welfare advice to Spanish speakers in Edinburgh is looking for Scottish solicitors and advocates who speak Spanish to join its referrals list. Oficina Precaria Escocia's work centres mainly around employment, family, consumer and immigration law.

RJ McLeod (Contractors) Limited has been fined £800,000 for health and safety failings which led to the death of a 10-year-old boy. The construction company pled guilty to a health and safety at work breach committed in July 2020.

A software gaffe has sent irate iPhone owners in search of their lost devices to a random family home in Texas. Scott Schuster has spoken to local media about his bewilderment as people keep turning up at his front door in search of their iPhones and AirPods because Apple's "Find My iPhone" app keep

Scottish Legal News is saddened to report the death of Douglas Williams, a much respected and well-known figure in Fife legal circles. Mr Williams, who died on March 26, aged 67, was popular with colleagues at Cupar Sheriff Court and led a spirited campaign to oppose the court's closure in 2015.

Aberdeen law student Hamza Afzal is one of 10 finalists and the only Scottish student in the running for the Undergraduate Future Lawyer of the Year Awards 2023. The 21-year-old, who is studying Scots law with English law, was one of more than 5,000 entrants from across the UK to take part in the co

A Perthshire-based company has been fined £27,000 for health and safety failures after a worker lost part of a leg in a forklift truck accident. John Brodie, 65, suffered the life-changing injury in April 2019 at the premises owned by Broomhall Feeds near the village of Inchture.

Compass Chambers' Peter Gray KC will be running the London Marathon on 23rd April to raise funds for Young Epilepsy. A number of years ago Mr Gray's eldest daughter Ishbel sent him a text from the London Marathon where she was spectating, suggesting that it would be a wonderful idea if they both ran

The Scottish government recently published guidance on the ‘Repairing Standard’. This is often talked about in the context of the private residential letting sector but, in fact, it has a much wider application. Moreover, from 2027 it will be further extended and this will have a signifi

France's top constitutional court will today rule on whether to approve President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms amid widespread opposition and three months of mass protests. Mr Macron's reforms would raise the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64.