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New research carried out on behalf of the Scottish Sentencing Council has found a lack of awareness over the offences created by the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 and suggests the public should be engaged on the range and scope of sexual offences. The independently conducted research

Graphic videos depicting violence are negatively affecting the mental health of juries, the Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway has warned. In an intervention recommending careful consideration of the use of such evidence, the judge said lawyers should take “great care” when deciding if

Scotland's legal system does not comply with international environmental and human rights law, according to UN findings. Article 9 of the Aarhus Convention, which the UK ratified in 2005, requires that access to review procedure over environmental matters should be fair, equitable, timely, and not p

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland has expressed concern over the treatment and care of vulnerable women with mental ill health in Cornton Vale prison. In a new report it highlights the lack of available beds in specific units in Scotland’s mental health facilities and raises critical

A new draft of the cabinet manual needs to be produced as soon as possible for it to remain useful, according to the House of Lords Constitution Committee. In a report published today, the committee has emphasised that as the cabinet manual is now a decade old, it needs to be updated or risk be

A law graduate has launched a ground-breaking new service that works with both survivors and perpetrators to tackle domestic abuse. Amy Macdonald and her aunt, Lynne Mackenzie, have together formed community interest company Rise Against Abuse CIC.

TLT has advised Biffa on its £10 million acquisition of Scotland's only post-consumer plastics recycling facility. Biffa is the UK's leading sustainable waste management business and the acquisition is in line with the group's strategy to quadruple its plastic recycling capacity by 2030.

Grants worth a total of £1.61 million have been allocated to community-based drugs organisations and support services providing access to treatment and residential rehabilitation. The local support fund – for groups with an annual income of under £1 million – issued 24 awards

The widow of a judge who has been cleared of child sexual abuse has said people who make unfounded allegations should be deprived of their anonymity. Lady Nourse, 77, was found not guilty of 17 charges made against her by a man who accused her of abusing him as a boy under 12 in the 1980s.

A dramatic police chase ended when the suspect pulled into a McDonald's drive-thru and attempted to order food. Police began to tail Johanna Gardell, 38, after she allegedly stole a pickup truck and struck a number of vehicles with it.

A joint appeal by three members of the same family who were injured in a road accident on holiday in Malta seeking a remit of their actions to the Court of Session has been refused by the Sheriff Appeal Court. Suzanne, Michael, and Kieran Henderson raised actions against&nbs

The Scotsman has published an obituary of Michael Gascoigne, who has passed away at the age of 72. "At 13 he was awarded a scholarship to Fettes College, Edinburgh, where he excelled in all aspects of school life. Studious and inquisitive by inclination, popular with his peers and teachers, and with

JUSTICE has made recommendations aimed at reforming the benefits system in the UK. The organisation's new report makes 44 recommendations aimed at improving the administrative and procedural aspects of the benefits system.

Boiling lobsters alive will become a crime under new UK government plans which will recognise crustaceans and molluscs as sentient beings with the ability to feel pain. Ministers are expected to back a proposed amendment to the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, extending its protections for vertebrat

SEMLA and Brodies LLP are collaborating to offer virtual work experience to two students. The collaboration will offer two student members the opportunity to undertake a week's virtual work experience between 16-20 August 2021.