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A former Crown Office employee has admitted taking hundreds of thousands of pounds of cash and drugs from the procurator fiscal's office in Aberdeen. Katherine Vaughan, 34, pleaded guilty to a single charge of embezzlement before Lord Beckett at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday.

The European Commission has published its first EU-wide report on the rule of law, which includes input from every member state and covers both positive and negative developments across the EU. The report shows that many member states have high rule of law standards, but highlights important challen

Shepherd and Wedderburn has been named Regional/Offshore Firm of the Year at the 23rd Legal Business Awards run by Legal Business magazine. The Regional/Offshore award recognises the achievements of the UK-based regional or offshore firm (with headquarters outside London) that has made the most sign

Ireland's top court has ruled that US sandwich chain Subway uses too much sugar in its dough to meet the legal definition of bread. In a dispute over VAT, the Supreme Court noted that Subway's bread has a sugar content of 10 per cent of the weight of the flour included in the dough.

A former employee of a company that ceased trading in 2017 has failed in his appeal to obtain £750,000 due to him after being injured at work from the company’s former insurer.  Owen Hannaway originally presented a summary application under the Administration of Justice (Scotland) A

More than 70 sub-postmasters with fraud and theft convictions in Scotland have been encouraged to contact the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) if they believe they have suffered a miscarriage of justice. It comes after nearly 50 postmasters in the rest of the UK had their conviction

A new professional services group which aims to "disrupt" the Scottish legal scene with technology has been launched with more than £1 million of initial backing. Founded by Rob Aberdeen, a former partner at Aberdein Considine and Walker Morris, new firm Aberdeins will begin with a focus on le

Scottish law clinics and senior lawyers have come together to launch a new online platform to provide free on-demand video training to law students involved in pro bono work across Scotland. The Probonoskills.com (PBS) platform, believed to be the first of its kind, will give pro bono students acces

New legislation to improve the benefits system to help those who need it most was unanimously passed by the Scottish Parliament yesterday. The Social Security Administration and Tribunal Membership (Scotland) Bill supports the delivery of the new Scottish Child Payment, to provide low-income familie

Corporate lawyer Michael Cox examines the latest EU update of consumer protection rules. The New Deal for Consumers (NDC) is a refresh of European consumer protection rules, to bring existing laws up-to-date for the digital age.

Glasgow City Council is seeking what is believed to be one of the first court interdicts in Scotland to enforce an existing ban on a short-term let which has continued to advertise for bookings amid the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, Ahmed Boutoubane was hit with enforcement action for his letting

Home Secretary Priti Patel allegedly ordered civil servants to consider processing asylum seekers on remote islands more than 4,000 miles from Britain, according to reports. Ms Patel asked her officials to look into the viability of an Australian-style offshore asylum processing centre on Ascension

Baroness Hale of Richmond, the former president of the UK Supreme Court, will deliver a lecture next week on communication and transparency in the UK's top court. Lady Hale, who retired in January, will give the English-Speaking Union's Evelyn Wrench Lecture 2020 via Zoom on Tuesday 10 November, 7.3

The head of the Auschwitz Memorial in Poland has offered to serve part of a jail sentence in Nigeria on behalf of a 13-year-old boy facing 10 years in prison for blasphemy. Dr Piotr Cywinski, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, wrote to the president of Nigeria this week to plead for cl

Police officers have been offered "surf therapy" to help them deal with mental health problems. The roll-out of the scheme is reportedly inspired by its use in the military – conjuring up images of Francis Ford Coppola's epic, Apocalypse Now.