News

A former Police Scotland officer who sent sexual messages to an undercover colleague posing as 12-year-old girl has been sentenced. Adam McManus admitted three charges when he appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court on 9 January 2026.

The Scottish Sentencing Council’s new sentencing guidelines on rape offences come into effect today. The two new guidelines, which cover offences of rape and rape of a young child under the age of 13, were developed following "extensive stakeholder engagement and research", culminating in a fu

McKee Campbell Morrison (MCM) has announced the appointment of Ewan Forsyth as associate director in its growing private client team. Mr Forsyth brings significant experience across a wide spectrum of private client work, including complex estates, trusts, succession planning and advising high‑net

Jacqui Taylor has been appointed permanent chamber president of the Local Taxation Chamber and Joy Hosie has been appointed permanent chamber president of the Social Security Chamber. Ms Taylor has been a legal member of the First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property) Chamber since it was established

A cross-government group has been established by the Scottish government to consider the impacts of the ongoing conflict in Iran and the surrounding region for Scotland. The group’s priorities include ensuring close co-ordination with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on

Brodies LLP has added to its corporate crime practice with the appointment of new partner Neil Hay. Mr Hay is recognised for his expertise in criminal law and financial crime where he provides strategic legal advice and specialist court representation for individuals, companies and organisations und

India's top court has banned a school textbook which made references to court backlogs and "corruption in the judiciary". The Supreme Court of India has imposed a "complete blanket ban... on any further publication, reprinting or digital dissemination" of the book, which was published last week by t

Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP (WJM) has expanded with a new office in Aberdeen. The firm – which has offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Dunblane and Galashiels – has opened its north east base on Marischal Square in the heart of the city centre.

Watermans has announced the opening of a new office in Dunfermline. 

BTO has welcomed Donna Strong as a new partner in the firm’s real estate team, based in its Glasgow office. This senior hire follows the appointment of partner John Dunlop in the firm’s Edinburgh office last year, further strengthening BTO’s growing real estate capability.

Fragmented ownership, chronic underinvestment, and slow legislative progress are pushing thousands of tenements into deepening disrepair, but with cross-party and cross-sector support for compulsory owners' associations and building reserve funds, a potential positive future could be around the cor

The Aberdeen University Centre for Energy Law (AUCEL) held a seminar on contemporary developments in International Energy Law last month.

A statutory public inquiry into covert surveillance of journalists in Northern Ireland should be launched following fresh revelations from a tribunal, campaigners have said. Amnesty International said damaging disclosures at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal last week revealed that the PSNI, the Met

The Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee has published the findings of its inquiry on options for a legal mechanism for triggering any independence referendum. The Scottish and UK governments should negotiate a “clear pathway” allowing Scotland to exercise its dem

Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has been charged with drugs offences after telling a podcast he once took ecstasy decades ago. The controversial left-wing politician and leader of the MeRA25 party said he had tried ecstasy in Australia in 1989 but was discouraged from doing so again a