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The popular fictional advocate, Edward Kane, faces some novel difficulties as he takes on his first murder case in a new book. For one thing, the 19th-century counsel has never even seen a murder trial, and although at risk of the hangman’s noose, his client refuses to speak to him.

"Usura rusteth the chisel/It rusteth the craft and the craftsman", wrote Ezra Pound. Benjamin Bestgen this week explains the practice of usury. See last week's primer here. In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice we encounter two people lending money: the Christian merchant Antonio and the Jew

A former gymnast has reportedly defected from North Korea to the south by vaulting a three-metre high border fence. South Korean media said officials who found and detained the man were so astonished they asked him twice to show his jumping skills.

Two companies which were at odds over whether a dispute over a contract between them for the sale of metal products had been resolved have had the issue resolved in favour of the original seller. The pursuer, Donald McCarthy Trading Pte Ltd, contracted with Ireland Alloys Ltd for the

‘Old Corruption’ was the term given in Georgian times to the system of patronage and preference which saw government sinecures, pensions and contracts handed out to cronies and relations. Thank goodness it could not happen today. As we show below, Henry Dundas, who looks down upon Edinbu

The Scottish Conservatives have threatened to launch court action if the Scottish government continues to ignore the Scottish Parliament and block the Salmond inquiry’s bid for key documents. Earlier this month, opposition MSPs of every party backed a Scottish Conservative motion calling on th

The UK government must respect devolution and honour its commitment to replacing EU funds in full, ministers from Wales and Scotland have "demanded" today. Speaking ahead of the government’s spending review, Jeremy Miles and Kate Forbes expressed their frustration that "no practical arran

Scotland’s sheriff civil courts are now able to conduct proofs, debates, evidential and fatal accident inquiry (FAI) hearings virtually using the WebEx video platform. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has been rolling out WebEx capability since April and it is widely used in the Court

Scotland will become the first country in the world to introduce free universal access to period products if a bill by Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon passes at Holyrood today. Ms Lennon said the “world-leading” and “ground-breaking” law would enshrine the dignity of Scots

The parents of Harry Dunn have failed in their High Court battle against the Foreign Office over whether the alleged killer of their son enjoyed diplomatic immunity. Mr Dunn, 19, was killed in a hit-and-run in 2019 when his motorcycle was hit by a car near Croughton, Northamptonshire. The car was dr

Glasgow-based, Just Employment Law has raised a significant sum for its charity partners, Pancreatic Cancer Action Scotland, by holding an online charity auction. The auction, held during Pancreatic Cancer awareness month, and which ended on World Pancreatic Cancer Day raised over £32,000. The

A man who held a cardboard sign with a smiley face on it outside of a police station has been arrested for taking part in an illegal protest. Jolovan Wham was arrested in Singapore after the brief one-man demonstration in solidarity with arrested climate activists, The Guardian reports.

In part two of his reflection on the life of Henry Dundas, Chris Holme retells the episode that would be his undoing, see part one here. It was a banking scandal on an epic scale involving flagrant misuse of public funds and fearless investigators.

The High Court of Justiciary has refused to order the recovery of two protectively marked documents (PMDs) by the legal team appealing the conviction of the late Abdelbaset al-Megrahi following a recommendation by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission. The documents were

Scotland is becoming a state in which the population is forced to conform to the vision and values of the ruling elite, a new book argues. In The Justice Factory: Can the Rule of Law Survive in 21st Century Scotland?, author Ian Mitchell suggests that the country is on the road to becoming an author