News

The enforcement of farmed animal welfare laws has not improved since the pandemic, according to a report from the Animal Law Foundation. Only 2.5 per cent of UK farms are inspected on average annually and fewer than one per cent of cases of non-compliance with animal welfare law are being prosecuted

JUSTICE has intervened in the Supreme Court case of U3 v Secretary of State for the Home Department.  Its intervention concerns how to ensure appeals against deprivation of citizenship orders protect the home secretary’s remit while also protecting the right to be heard of the individual

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) has reported its highest ever number of incoming complaints – 1,385 in 2023-24 – significantly exceeding projections for the year. The organisation’s caseload was skewed by the fallout from one ceased firm which affected work across t

Burges Salmon has supported Indian law firm Khaitan & Co, part of Burges Salmon’s International Preferred Firm Network, in advising its client Firstsource Solutions UK Limited, a London-based business process services firm and a wholly owned subsidiary of Firstsource Solutions Limited (Ind

The average house price in Scotland reached £198,000 in September 2024, a 5.7 per cent increase compared to September 2023, according to provisional figures from Registers of Scotland.

Police have seized tarot cards and crystal balls after arresting a group of "psychics" alleged to be fraudsters. Three arrests have now been made in Sydney, Australia following an investigation into what is alleged to be a crime syndicate using their supposed psychic abilities for cover, ABC News re

The Scottish Human Rights Commission has laid its Annual Report for 2023-24 before Holyrood. The commission’s work this year included meeting with more than 140 people in the Highlands and Islands, to explore human rights concerns in areas such as healthcare, housing and transport.

The Children and Young People’s Commissioner has launched an investigation into Police Scotland’s use of force against children. Data from the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) shows that children in Scotland are more than twice as likely to experience use of force by the police than adult

Barristers in England and Wales have rejected proposed new rules which would oblige them to "act in a way that advances equality, diversity and inclusion". The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has proposed amendments to the equality rules forming part of barristers' conduct obligations – which curren

Amnesty International has called for a full review of how due diligence is conducted on arms companies in receipt of grants from Scottish Enterprise. In a letter to the Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, Amnesty warned that current human rights due diligence procedures at Scottish Enterprise may not

Scotland's legal aid crisis is the subject of a new series in The Herald entitled Beyond Breaking Point. There is already a crisis in legal aid, but the next five to ten years could be catastrophic. The future looks equally grim when it comes to civil legal aid. How did we get here? What does this m

New facilities providing healthcare for people who have experienced sexual assault or rape, and a service for children and young people who have experienced harm and abuse, have been opened. The Sycamore Sexual Assault Response Coordination Service (SARCS) for adults in NHS Lothian was officially op

There has been a three per cent rise in domestic abuse incidents recorded by Police Scotland, according to new figures from the chief statistician. The police recorded 63,867 incidents of domestic abuse in 2023-24, an increase of three per cent compared to the previous year. This is the first year t

Amazon Prime is to remove parts of a Chilean TV series after reaching a "groundbreaking" settlement in a defamation case before the Irish courts. Solicitor Paul Tweed brought the High Court proceedings on behalf of Dr Jorge Segovia Bonet, a Spanish businessman who owns the Chilean football club Uni&

Police in Thailand were forced to barricade themselves into their station as their town came under attack from around 200 escaped monkeys. Special enclosures in Lopburi – around 100 miles north-east of Bangkok – are used to manage the local monkey population.