News

At the High Court in Edinburgh today, Lord Braid sentenced John Watt QC to 10 years' imprisonment after he was convicted of five charges involving the sexual abuse of children. Mr Watt was also made subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Lord Braid made the stateme

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab is planning to limit the scope of judicial review, according to a leaked document seen by The Guardian. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) paper details changes that would limit the accountability of ministers in judicial reviews.

Victims and witnesses of muirburn offences in Assynt in Sutherland have spoken of their upset at a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the legal costs of the man responsible for the fires. Crofter Ian MacKenzie was convicted of the offences at Tain Sheriff Court in June this year. His actions resulted

A serial abuser who raped women he met through online dating sites and social media has been jailed for 13 years. Ian Ramsay, a farmhand from Kelso in the Borders, subjected partners and ex-partners to serious sexual attacks and violence.

McKee Campbell Morrison (MCM) has appointed employment law specialist and mediator Laura McKenna to head the firm’s newly launched employment law and HR division. She joins from Morton Fraser, where she worked with a variety of private and public sector clients across a range of sectors.

We find ourselves at a crucial juncture in the development of environmental law. Last month, the Met Office recorded a temperature over 40 degrees for the first time in the UK. The combined pressures of climate change, increasing focus of the Scottish government on environmental issues, and post-pan

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has proposed a new offence of causing death by dangerous cycling to be included in the forthcoming Transport Bill. Prosecutors in England and Wales currently rely on the Offences Against The Person Act 1861, which deals with horse-drawn carriages. Motorists, however,

Former senator Lord Glennie has been urged to step down from his role at a court in the Middle East over “egregious human rights abuses” in the region, The Times reports. Last year he was sworn in as a judge of the Court of Appeal in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) courts

A man convicted of murdering another man with a firearm during a heavily armed confrontation between two feuding families has lost his appeal against sentence in the High Court of Justiciary. Jordan Owens was convicted of murdering Jamie Lee on 8 July 2017 and was given a life sentence with a punish

Terra Firma Chambers will provide sponsorship for the Immigration Law Masterclass Conference 2022 which will be held at the MacKenzie Building, Edinburgh on Friday 2nd September. Now in its fourth year, this annual conference has become one of the largest dedicated immigration law conferences in Sco

A prison in Japan deprived an inmate of his half-rimmed glasses because they created a “menacing aura”. As a result, the prisoner suffered from headaches and bumped into others for months. Appalled at the treatment of the man, the Sapporo Bar Association complained to Tsukigata Prison ab

A project to turn Arbroath courthouse into a £2 million community hub has passed another milestone, The Courier reports. Angus Council has granted planning permission as well as listed building consent for the conversion of the B-listed former court, which closed its doors in 2014.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has commissioned the Universities of York, Cardiff, and Lancaster to lead a new independent review into why it receives more reports about Black, Asian and minority ethnic solicitors than their white colleagues. The project will also review the regulator&rsq

Baktosch Gillan spoke to Law Society of Scotland president Murray Etherington on the work he intends to do during his year in office. Murray Etherington wanted to be a lawyer from a young age. Growing up in 1980s and 1990s, it was the American television drama L.A. Law which encouraged him to s

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) has appointed three law firms to its advisory and litigation panel following a competitive tender process run through the Public Contracts Scotland portal. Brodies, Burness Paull, and Harper Macleod were appointed to the panel, which will provide legal