News

The UK government has referred bills passed at Holyrood to the Supreme Court on the basis they are ultra vires of the Scotland Act. MSPs unanimously passed bills on local government and children's rights last month but UK ministers suggest they are beyond the scope of the Scottish Parliament's power

Morton Fraser has appointed one of Scotland’s most respected restructuring and insolvency lawyers, Yvonne Brady, as head of strategy for restructuring and insolvency.  The position has been created by Morton Fraser specifically for Ms Brady, who began her role this week. 

CMS has announced five new partner promotions in Scotland. Employment lawyer Catriona Aldridge joins fellow Edinburgh-based colleague Claire Wallis and Glasgow-based Mike McColl, both from the firm’s real estate team, in making the move to partner level.

In a fine example of nominative determinism, Laura Dunlop QC tells the tale of a dispute over a common name. The case? Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company Ltd v Dunlop Motor Company Ltd 1907 SC (HL) 15. Vote for your top three Session Cases here. In 1840, John Boyd Dunlop was born in Dreghorn, A

In an unexpected development, the European Commission has reportedly opposed the UK's application to accede to the Lugano Convention. According to reports of a meeting yesterday, the Commission recommended that the UK should not be allowed to join Lugano. The final decision rests with member states

Last week Sheriff (rtd.) Douglas Cusine contributed an article to Scottish Legal News entitled ‘Not proven’ debate lacks clarity. In it, he said, “For me, a ‘not proven’ verdict reflects what we have all experienced, and that is, ‘I’m just not sure.” S

Alastair K Shepherd reflects on the traineeship he began in 1981 as he retires this month, having spent four decades in the law. I am retiring from private practice with Coulters Legal LLP on 30 April 2021, forty years after I started my legal career as one of the first batch of trainees. We had bee

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) has confirmed that the scheduled resumption of Sheriff Court summary criminal business will go ahead from Monday 19 April. The majority of summary trials in the Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court had been adjourned since January due to lockd

Jennifer Stewart details an interesting case on an employee's refusal to wear a mask and his subsequent dismissal. Spring is in the air; the vaccination programme is well under way and with the increasing relaxation of restrictions over the next few weeks, things are edging closer to some semblance

The UN's human rights chief has urged Westminster politicians to amend a controversial bill which would protect some British soldiers from prosecution for suspected war crimes overseas. The Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill is reaching its final stages in the legislative proc

Two LLB students and the GCU Law Clinic have been shortlisted for the Glasgow Caledonian University STAR Awards. The STAR Awards are an annual celebration event held by the Students’ Association to recognise and celebrate the hard work of volunteers and student groups. Lucy Mackay, GCU Law Cli

While many started their traineeships during the pandemic, Anna Reilly was also seconded during it. When I began my traineeship at Morton Fraser, I did not expect to have the opportunity to work directly for the Government Legal Service for Scotland (GLSS), not least in the midst of a pandemic.

French police are cracking down on secret restaurants where wealthy diners have been eating and drinking in breach of Covid-19 restrictions. The boss of one underground restaurant in Paris was arrested last week and over 110 of its guerrilla gastronomes were fined, TheLocal.fr reports.

A man who was charged with offences under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 allegedly committed on online social media platforms has failed to challenge the competency of the three charges brought against him in an appeal under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Ac

With great power comes great responsibility. I know that this quote is most often attributed (wrongly) to Spider-Man. Perhaps it has its true genesis in Luke 12:48, but for present purposes the hint of superpower is apt.