News

The High Court of Justiciary has ruled that a Kirkcaldy sheriff erred in failing to grant an order prohibiting a man charged with offences against his former partner from conducting his own defence in respect of two of the listed charges. A Crown appeal was made after the sheriff refused to grant an

James Milne has been appointed as managing director of McEwan Fraser Legal. Ken McEwan, chief executive of the firm, said: “I am pleased to be welcoming James to the McEwan Fraser Legal team. I have known James for a number of years and have been super impressed with his drive, honesty, and en

Iran protests: UN council votes to investigate human rights abuses

An accountancy firm has expanded its presence in Edinburgh with the appointment of one of the city's best-known former lawyers. Greig Honeyman will advise leading figures at Douglas Home & Co, while tapping into his extensive network of family businesses, trusts, lawyers and corporate decision-m

Police have claimed that 600kg of cannabis that was supposed to be produced as evidence in a trial went missing because it was eaten by rats. Cops in the city of Mathura in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh told magistrates the drugs had disappeared from two storerooms after they had been seize

Two Aberdeen men have been sentenced after admitting using dogs to hunt wild hares. Alexander Stewart was given a community payback order with 100 hours of unpaid work and Jackie Stewart was fined £1,000 after having pled guilty at Forfar Sheriff Court to wildlife offences carried out between

The Scottish Young Lawyers' Association (SYLA) is hosting an event tonight in Aberdeen entitled 'Spotlight on ... your wellbeing'. The event will be a hybrid one, hosted in person in association with Balfour and Manson LLP in its Aberdeen office and online via Zoom.SYLA will be joined by Gillian Fow

The Law Society of Scotland has committed to improved support and oversight of trainee solicitors and training managers. The society’s Education and Training (Standard Setting) Sub-Committee has endorsed a number of changes in response to surveys of trainees and training managers conducted ear

Gillespie Macandrew has made a charitable donation of £40,000 to be shared between its two charity partners, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC) and Alzheimer Scotland. As part of its ESG programme, in each of the last seven years Gillespie Macandrew has donated around one per c

Threats to the presumption of innocence in Scotland and Australia is the subject of a new article by Helen Dale in the online magazine Law & Liberty. Ms Dale, who has law degrees from Oxford and Edinburgh, writes: "This month, in two jurisdictions where I’ve previously practised, there hav

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the Scottish Parliament does not have the inherent power to legislate for the holding of a referendum on Scottish independence, as such a law would relate to a reserved matter. A reference to the court was made by the Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, under Schedule

The Law Society of Scotland has congratulated the Ukrainian National Bar Association (UNBA) and Ukrainian lawyer Nadia Volkova on being joint winners of Europe’s leading legal sector human rights award. The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) – of which the Law Society is

In a five part series for Scottish Legal News this week, BTO partner Cat MacLean tells the story of an epic legal battle with the Clydesdale Bank. She explains the reality of litigating against a huge opponent with bottomless pockets, the cost and funding of litigation and the need to find leve

In a new paper Terra Firma's Neil Beynon considers fiduciary duties owed by directors and rights enforceable by shareholders, with particular emphasis on their application within the oil and gas sector. In particular his paper looks at:

A woman who told immigration officials that a box she was carrying contained beer has admitted in court that it actually contained a spider monkey. Savannah Nicole Valdez, 20, was arrested in March attempting to enter the US via Texas.