News

A climbdown by the Scottish government on the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill has been confirmed by Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf. The 'stirring up' offence in the bill has now been limited to situations where 'intent' is present. The bill previously stated that an offence would al

Thorntons has welcomed eight newly qualified solicitors across four of its offices following a two-year traineeship.

Ian G. Mitchell QC reflects on the life of The Rev. Alistair Gerald Crichton McGregor QC, who was born on 15 October 1937 and passed away on 13 June 2020. I first met Alistair McGregor in the 1970s when he was junior counsel for the objectors at a long-running public enquiry in Portkill and I w

An organisation seeking judicial review of the Scottish ministers' definition of "woman" in an act has been granted permission to proceed by the Court of Session. For Women Scotland is challenging ministers over the definition of "woman" in the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2

TLT has appointed Ainslie Benzie as legal director in Scotland. Ms Benzie, who joins from Pinsent Masons, has a wealth of experience advising lenders, insolvency practitioners, corporates and their directors on all aspects of restructuring, turnaround and insolvency and has worked on numerous h

Lindsays has expanded its operations with the launch of a human resources consultancy. Prism HR has come into being as companies face a range of employment issues as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the effects it has had on business.

Ronnie Conway has become the first senior fellow of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) in Scotland. Senior fellow is the highest level of accreditation at APIL and highlights members with a wealth of experience who have provided an outstanding contribution to personal injury law.

From around 1835, Inverness Castle was the home of the city’s sheriff court until, earlier this year, all its business was permanently moved to a new “Justice Centre”, more functional but with considerably less style or grandeur. However, the future is precarious for many court bui

Benjamin Bestgen considers how the law might grapple with nanoscience. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Imagine you are trying to conceive a child using artificial methods. A robot so tiny you could breathe it in without noticing selects the most promising sperm and directly inserts it into

A prominent journalist has been suspended by a US magazine after he was allegedly spotted masturbating in a Zoom meeting, unaware that his camera was on. Jeffrey Toobin, one of the best-known legal commentators in the US, was supposed to be representing the country's courts in a New Yorker election

An insurance company that settled an action raised by a car crash victim has failed in its bid to have the pursuer’s expenses modified to nil on the basis that the action was unnecessary. Susan Keenan was in the passenger seat of a car being driven by her daughter when it was struck from

In the 1970s Ernst Schumacher, an unlikely named British Coal economist, wrote his famous work Small is Beautiful bequeathing the decade a title that became a mantra, but which arguably made little impact on society. Today, in a reaction to globalisation boosted by Covid lockdowns, a new slogan has

Care experienced children and young people are among those who will have the opportunity to give their opinions on new legislation which would incorporate an international human rights treaty into Scots law – in a Zoom chat with MSPs. Virtual calls hosted by children’s rights organisatio

A judge-led initiative in courts across the south of Scotland is proving successful in reducing the backlog of summary court cases caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, many Sheriff Court cases scheduled for trial resolve by an agreed guilty plea between the prosecutor and the defence agent

A former stable clerk is bringing an unfair dismissal claim against her former employer, The Herald reports. Susan Hastie, ex-senior clerk of Hastie Stable, is bringing an Employment Tribunal case against Faculty Services Ltd.