News

Jesus was not opposed to the death penalty, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church has claimed. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow told veterans of Russia's illegal war on Ukraine that Christ had "suffered an undeserved execution" but never condemned executions altogether, Novaya Gazeta reports.

Court wait times could rise to more than three years for the most serious cases, Holyrood has been told. Malcolm Graham, chief executive of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), told MSPs that not raising funding in 2025-26 would be the same as removing 10 courts dealing with serious cas

The Scottish Arbitration Centre has appointed Alice Leggat as a director of the board. Alice Leggat, a solicitor practising in both Scotland and in England and Wales, is head of legal at SSE Thermal, a key business of SSE plc, where she advises on all manner of commercial and construction law issues

Tony Lenehan KC remains the top earner of legal aid fees, new figures from the Scottish Legal Aid Board show. In 2023-24, Mr Lenehan's fees were £450,000, an increase of £50,000 on the previous year.

Dundee Law School has established a new partnership with The College of Legal Practice for students taking the English LLB. The college will offer the university’s law students an opportunity to take their courses to prepare for the Solicitors’ Qualifying Examination (SQE).

Newly released official data suggests that demand for legal aid support is no longer able to be met by the shrinking pool of solicitors working in the scheme. The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) 2023-24 annual report has been released, showing that funding for legal aid continues to trail inflation,

Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) must pay a former employee £70,000 and publicly apologise to her after she was constructively dismissed for her beliefs about gender. An employment tribunal had already ruled that the centre unlawfully discriminated against Roz Adams and that the management

An American cyclist is taking legal action after being struck and injured by an ambulance, which took him to hospital and then sent him a bill for nearly $2,000. William Hoesch, 71, is seeking $997,000 (around €930,000 or £775,000) from Columbia River Fire & Rescue in Oregon in compen

Holmes Mackillop has appointed a trio of solicitors across its commercial property, property and private client teams. Sean Fraser joins the firm’s property team as an associate with expertise in commercial property while Amy Pollock has been recruited as an associate with expertise in all asp

Outdated IT systems are hampering justice, a new report has revealed. Crown Office and Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service staff told a survey that they are “drowning in emails” as they attempt to deal with technology that in some cases is more than two decades old.

Lord Cubie is to speak at the SSC Society on “Tips, textbooks and tales of woe”. The members' talk in Edinburgh next week will provide pointers in relation to the preparation for and conduct of court proceedings, drawing on the speaker’s experience as a practitioner, judge and auth

The WS Society has announced that Mandy Laurie WS (Burness Paull) is standing down as deputy keeper of the Signet at the end of this year, and current treasurer Jim Cormack KC WS (Pinsent Masons) will succeed her in office from 1 January 2025. A reshuffle of appointments sees current trustees Tony J

Legislation that will see Scotland move to using five-year carbon budgets to set climate targets has been passed. The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill amends the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 to introduce limits on the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in Scotland o

An octogenarian who was attacked with a machete after knocking on the wrong door by mistake managed to fend off his attacker with a pair of nunchucks. The would-be victim told police that he knocked on the door in Youngstown, Ohio and heard an irate man shout that he had the wrong apartment.

Macdonald Henderson is the top legal adviser in Scotland with 21 deals, the latest Experian M&A report shows.