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Gerard Sinclair, chief executive of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission is to retire in September. Mr Sinclair joined the commission in 2003 and will have served for over 18 years when he retires, which the commission believes makes him the longest serving chief executive of such an arm&rs

The UK government has been accused of an “utterly ridiculous” abuse of power for threatening to impose jail sentences of 10 years on travellers who break quarantine rules. Described as “misleading spin” that would never be enforced, by shadow attorney general Lord Falconer, t

Aberdein Considine has made a number of promotions across the firm. Six lawyers have been promoted to the position of senior solicitor in addition to a promotion to associate level.

Douglas J. Cusine responds to a letter on a proposed pardon for those executed for witchcraft in Scotland, made in reply to his original suggestion that the scheme was a waste of time.

There has been a huge rise in “authorised push payment” or “APP” fraud over recent years. The amounts involved in these scams can be significant, writes Gordon Deane. The High Court in England recently rejected a claim by a bank customer who fell victim to an APP fraud. A dis

Iain Young considers the year ahead in tax. One of the most hackneyed phrases found in articles written by lawyers is that in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. 

Legislation to increase the transparency of land ownership in Scotland has been passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament. The Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land regulations pave the way for the creation of a public database that will provide key information about those wh

A defendant was reprimanded yesterday after using his phone to take courtroom selfies and share them on Snapchat. Corey O'Brien, 23, was in Cork District Court in Ireland yesterday to face a charge of demanding money with menaces, having allegedly demanded €6,000 to satisfy a drug debt.

The Inner House of the Court of Session has allowed an appeal by a former tenant with severe learning difficulties against a payment order for rent arrears made against her and remitted her case back to the First-tier Tribunal Housing and Property Chamber.  The appellant, SW, arg

Prior to his apology to the Scottish Parliament yesterday the Lord Advocate gave welcome confirmation that the Duff and Phelps administrators' Clark and Whitehouse have indeed been paid £21 million in compensation and awarded £3m towards their legal costs as was widely rumoured and repor

Calls have been made for an inquiry into the malicious prosecution of two men involved in the sale of Rangers after the Lord Advocate publicly apologised to them and said there had been no criminal misconduct at the Crown Office. James Wolffe QC said the case against David Whitehouse and Paul Clark

A coronavirus resilience fund for legal aid firms and law centres, worth up to £9 million, has opened for applications. The Coronavirus Resilience and Recovery Fund for Legal Aid has been created to provide financial support to enable legal aid services to the public to continue during the pan

Catherine Smith has joined Compass Chambers. Ms Smith has extensive experience in reparation and public law and specialises in personal injury, clinical negligence and judicial review.

A University of Stirling legal academic is launching a new body to bring together all sectors of the profession in Scotland. Dr Guido Noto La Diega, associate professor at the university’s law school, has been awarded funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh to create the Scottish Law and I

Judicial assistants (JAs) from the Supreme Court are to speak at a virtual event hosted by the Scottish Young Lawyers' Association later this month. This event offers the opportunity to learn more about the role and to hear from those who have experienced life working at the court, the work the