News

The Faculty of Advocates' Laura Thomson has been named as junior counsel to the Sheku Bayoh public inquiry. Last week, it was announced that Angela Grahame QC had been appointed senior counsel to the inquiry, which will begin later this year, chaired by retired judge Lord Bracadale.

Lorna Jack, chief executive of Law Society of Scotland, is to join the Department for International Trade's new Trade Advisory Group. The Department for International Trade (DIT) has established 11 new trade advisory groups covering a range of key sectors. Each group will be made up of experts to ad

Properties in Glasgow and Edinburgh are selling faster than in any other city in the UK as the post-lockdown housing boom continues, according to the latest figures from Zoopla. Homes in Glasgow sold in just 16 days on average, followed by 17 days in Edinburgh while the UK average is 27 days.

The Scottish Feminist Judgments Project (SFJP) has released a sample book chapter on the case of Drury v HM Advocate [2001] SLT 1013. The SFJP is a project which brings together legal academics, practising lawyers, and representatives from the third sector, to consider whether important legal cases

Decisions made about land that consider the long-term impact on people’s lives, the environment and local community, will result in greater public benefit, according to a new Land Rights and Responsibilities Protocol published by the Scottish Land Commission. The protocol states that when

A group of lawyers have called on the Church of England to immediately reintroduce wine at Communion. The six barristers and QCs have written to the Archbishop of Canterbury in a row over whether the ban on wine at Communion during the COVID-19 pandemic is based on a misinterpretation of the law.

A Polish national who sought a return order under the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 in respect of his daughter, who had been taken to Scotland in 2019, has had his petition refused following an appeal by the child’s mother.  The petitioner, W, and the first respondent, A, had lived

New laws to make family court proceedings in Scotland more child-friendly have been passed by the Scottish Parliament. The Children (Scotland) Bill will require all children's views to be heard and taken account of in family cases, subject to limited exceptions, removing the presumption that on

Lord Justice Stephens has been appointed to the Supreme Court. Her Majesty The Queen made the appointment on the advice of the Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor, following the recommendations of an independent selection commission.

Scotland’s commercial property sales have suffered the worst quarter in a decade, according to the Scottish Property Federation’s (SPF) analysis of the latest data from Registers of Scotland.

The Scottish government's Finance and Constitution Committee has launched a call for views on the impact of the Trade Bill 2020.

A new name has joined a specialist list of counsel who are qualified in alternative dispute resolution techniques, while a veteran of the group has added to his CV. Both Michael Upton and Stephen O’Rourke QC have been admitted as fellows of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb).

A lawyer in India faces jail after tweeting that the country's highest court undermined democracy. Prashant Bhushan, 63, a public interest lawyer, accused judges of giving in to the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Benjamin Bestgen this week considers the moral obligations of companies. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Lawyers often keep their views on the moral qualities of their clients or clients’ actions to themselves. Morality, many think, is subjective, particularly as differentiating neat

Police have had to open an investigation into themselves after a senior officer reported a theft – in her own station. Police chief Bernadette DiPino of Sarasota Police Department in Florida alleged that various items had been stolen from her handbag while she was in a meeting.