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The Justice Secretary, Angela Constance, in arguing in favour of non-jury trials for certain sexual offences, keeps repeating that there is “evidence” that jurors take into consideration factors which are irrelevant; what she describes as “rape myths” – for example not

Gillespie Macandrew has expanded its partnership with the addition of private client specialist David Mowlem. With 15 years of experience in tax and estate planning, Mr Mowlem is dual qualified in Scots and English law and joins the firm from Turcan Connell. As a chartered tax adviser, his appointme

Russian police were led on a wild goose chase after reports that a "Ukrainian saboteur pigeon" had been spotted over Moscow. A concerned resident told police that he had seen a pigeon painted in the yellow and blue colours of the Ukrainian flag flying over Moscow clutching a mine.

Amnesty International has come under criticism after using AI-generated images to illustrate social media posts about human rights abuses in Colombia. The images, which were shared to Amnesty's Instagram account with over one million followers as as well as tweeted from national Twitter accounts, in

Scottish Legal News is pleased to report that Lord Uist's thoughtful article on the constitutionality or otherwise of juryless trials has been widely followed up and reported in The Times, The Scotsman, The Herald, The Press and Journal, the BBC, The Independent and STV, bringing this important lega

A new approach to equip justice agencies with the skills and knowledge needed to "reduce the re-traumatisation of victims and witnesses of crime" has been published today. It underpins a key aim of the Scottish government's Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, introduced last

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) has today published a report on the initial engagement or ‘terms of business’ letters firms issue when instructed by a client. Looking at a sample of 80 letters, the SLCC considered to what extent they complied with Law Society of Scotland

Burness Paull has bolstered its rural business offering with the addition of a six-person team led by agriculture and estates specialist Linda Tinson. Ms Tinson has been appointed as a partner in Burness Paull’s real estate division and head of the firm’s expanded rural business practice

Burges Salmon has announced the appointment of AJ Venter as a partner in its corporate and M&A team based in Edinburgh. He joins Burges Salmon from Travers Smith, where he was senior counsel in the corporate M&A and equity capital markets group.

CMS has announced the promotion of Siobhan Kahmann to partner level. The Brussels-based competition and regulatory law specialist, who works across the Scottish marketplace, is among several new global partner promotions announced by the firm this year.

Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP has promoted seven of its lawyers to partner and 10 to legal director. The promotions took effect on 1 May.

Dear Editor, I applaud the reasoned contribution of Lord Uist to the proposals for juryless rape trials contained in the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The Inner House of the Court of Session has reduced by one third an award of expenses due to be paid by an airline to a successful co-defender in an action raised by an injured passenger following a challenge to the determined expenses. It was not disputed that pursuer Colin Mather was entitled to h

Dear Editor, Discussion of dispensing with juries for trials for charges of rape and attempted rape should not disregard the fact that an absolute right to jury trial has been no part of our law in recent history, if ever.

A university is being sued by more than a dozen graduates who wrongly believed their financial planning course was accredited and would allow them to start their professional careers. The 18 graduates of James Cook University in Queensland, Australia are pursuing a class action against their alma ma