News

The High Court of Justiciary has refused an appeal against extradition by an Irish citizen who claimed he was at risk of having to “slop out” the chamber pot of his prison cell if he were returned to Ireland to serve a custodial sentence. It was argued by Kevin McGourty that there was a

A two-year equality fund has been launched to make Scottish workplaces, including those in the legal sector, more inclusive and diverse. The Scottish government-funded initiative has £800,000 available in its first year and aims to address barriers in the labour market.

Two new members have joined the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Board. Ruth Innes QC joins as advocate member and Lynsey Walker as solicitor member. Their four-year terms began this week. They replace Dr Kirsty J Hood QC and Simon J D Catto.

EY Law is planning to treble in size in the UK and Ireland in the coming three years in a move that could see it recruit some 800 extra lawyers, Law.com reports. The legal division of the accountancy giant currently has 200 UK lawyers but Philip Goodstone, head of EY Law in the UK and Ireland, said

Nominations are now open for solicitors hoping to join the Law Society of Scotland’s decision-making body, representing the Cupar, Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy constituency. The previous Council member, Roshni Joshi, resigned her seat having made a career move to the Procurator Fiscal’s Off

Hundreds of thousands of boxes of Kellogg's cereals have been seized by Mexican authorities for being too appealing to children. A new law in Mexico forbids the marketing of sugary foods directly to children, for example with cartoon drawings and mascots, ABC News reports.

Justice Secretary Keith Brown’s wish to find “credible and consistent” alternatives to a custodial sentence is laudable. That said, finding these is not an easy task, nor can it be done without substantial and long-term investment – something which many governments do not esp

Few outside the legal profession will realise the role that lawyers play in society and the extent to which our work is dictated by the actions of Parliament. I had not been aware of just how close that connection was until taking up my post around four years ago as head of our survivors team. The t

Home Secretary Priti Patel's proposed new UK border laws would breach the UK's obligations under international law, UN experts have said. In a joint statement, five UN special rapporteurs said the Nationality and Borders Bill would "seriously undermine the protection of the human rights of trafficke

A public law and net zero policy development expert has joined Burness Paull. Richard Lockhart was previously general counsel of national infrastructure centre of expertise, Scottish Futures Trust.

Brexit has prompted a record number of trademark applications in the UK, according to new data. There were 195,000 trademarks registered in the UK in the past year, an increase of 54 per cent on the previous year's figure of 127,000.

Thorntons' Loretta Maxfield has been named a certified specialist in data protection by the Law Society of Scotland. Ms Maxfield, who has been with Thorntons since 2005, specialises in IP, data protection and information governance, and is qualified in both Scots and English law.

The Scottish government’s updated procedure for handling formal complaints by civil servants about a minister’s or former minister’s behaviour has been published. The independent procedure, which has been developed in partnership with trade unions, will now be reviewed further by t

The International Bar Association (IBA) has released a statement in defence of lawyer-client confidentiality, following a number of recent attacks on the principle from high-profile international organisations. The statement, with forewords by Lord Neuberger, former president of the UK Supreme Court

David Strang has been named as the new chair of the Drug Deaths Taskforce. He is a former chief constable who previously chaired the independent inquiry into mental health services in Tayside. Mr Strang was also HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in Scotland. He takes up this new position with immediate