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Prompt action is needed by the Scottish government to reform the law of crofting, the Law Society of Scotland has said. In a report, the Law Society sets out recommendations detailing proposed solutions to issues in four areas of crofting law: aspects of succession, owner occupier status, statutory

A new legally binding instrument to protect lawyers should be drafted as soon as possible, the Council of Europe (CoE) has said in a new report. The principles and guarantees of advocates, published by the CoE's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, reiterates the need for a 'European convent

A former Deputy First Minister of Scotland has been chosen to be the next moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Lord Wallace of Tankerness QC, Jim Wallace, will become the Kirk’s ambassador at home and abroad next May.

Amy Coney Barrett has been sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States days before the election in a move that will tip the balance of the court to the right for years to come.

The number of homicide cases recorded by the police in Scotland increased by three per cent, or two cases, from 62 to 64 between 2018-19 and 2019-20, the latest data from Scotland’s chief statistician show. Elswhere the report shows:

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld has been fined for health and safety failings which led to the death of a vulnerable care home resident at a property in Dundee. Dundee Sheriff Court was told that in the early hours of 30 May 2017, a 94-year-old man fell nearly 30 feet from a second floor windo

Scottish Legal News is pleased to report that our sister publication, Scottish Construction Now, has passed a significant milestone breaking through the 10,000 subscribers mark to its free daily newsletter with over 140,000 unique visitors to the www.scottishconstructionnow.com  website each mo

Thieves have stolen half a tonne of grapes from a vineyard, the equivalent of 350 bottles of white wine, or £3,300. When workers arrived at the Coteau Rougemont vineyard in a wooded area in Quebec, Canada, there was nothing left to pick.

A non-EU migrant worker who had his visa application refused after the Home Office revoked his employer’s sponsor licence and did not inform him has successfully appealed the decision of the Upper Tribunal to refuse his petition for judicial review of the decision. The appellant, Imrankha

Plans to introduce an anti-money laundering (AML) levy on solicitors has been opposed by the Law Society of Scotland. The Law Society has said a proposed new levy on the legal profession to fund UK government anti-money laundering activity is unnecessary, arguing that the profession alread

The Prime Minister and Home Secretary have been asked by more than 800 former judges and senior legal figures to apologise for endangering lawyers in a letter to The Guardian. Boris Johnson and Priti Patel are also accused of displaying “hostility” towards the profession and undermining

Criminals have failed to complete more than 700,000 hours of community service, according to a leaked report. The document, produced by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), said the Scottish government  “responded positively” to calls to write off about 210,000 hour

Eighty-four per cent of people in Scotland are not confident about their rights during the redundancy process, a new poll for Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has found. The research, carried by the Diffley Partnership, also reveals that 39 per cent of people in work or on furlough are worried about t

CMS has announced the appointment Jae Fassam as a pensions partner in Edinburgh, bringing the total partner count across its UK pensions law practice to 18. Mr Fassam joins from Pinsent Masons. He is an experienced pensions partner and advises trustees, employers and local government funds as well a

HMRC has been accused of making fewer arrests of white-collar tax dodgers due to a lack of resources and criticism about it being too “trigger happy”. The number of arrests made by the tax authority dropped by a third to 511 in the 12 months to April, compared with 782 over the previous