News

Solicitor Eamon Keane, early career fellow in criminal law and evidence at the University of Edinburgh, expresses 'considerable concern' over the Scottish government's hearsay reforms, which have passed stage one. The proposals in the Coronavirus Bill (at Schedule 4 Part 6) cause me considerable con

The Scottish government is delaying controversial plans to abolish juries in solemn trials for the duration of the coronavirus emergency after a furious backlash from the legal profession and outraged politicians. The bill, which was introduced only yesterday by Constitution Secretary

The City of Edinburgh Council has successfully been granted a permanence order under section 80 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 in relation to the child of a mother diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and a father with limited leave to remain in the UK. The mother, B, di

In a keenly-awaited landmark ruling, the UK Supreme Court has ruled supermarket chain Morrisons is not liable for the conduct of an employee who leaked payroll data for over 100,000 workers and was subsequently jailed. The appeal concerned the circumstances in which an employer is vicariously liable

David Bartos and Dr Gillian Black have been appointed commissioners of the Scottish Law Commission. Mr Bartos brings a wealth of practical experience in commercial property litigation covering a wide breadth of landlord and tenant disputes together with a deep knowledge of property and contract law.

Scottish conveyancers have greeted huge increases in loan-to-value deposits required by mortgage lenders with dismay. Britain's mortgage lenders have dramatically increased their loan-to-value deposits for house purchases with Halifax and Barclays among those seeking 40 per cent down-payme

Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace (RCC&W) has promoted Allan Mackenzie to associate solicitor. After graduating from Aberdeen University in 2006, Mr Mackenzie completed his traineeship with a local firm and in 2012 joined a local residential and commercial property developer. He joined RCC&am

Weightmans has opened a new private client practice in Scotland with the appointment of family law specialist Noel Ferry to its Glasgow team, expanding its cross-border offering.

Convictions for rape and attempted rape increased by 43 per cent in Scotland in they ear 2018-19, new figures reveal. The number of proceedings for these crimes increased by 32 per cent to 324 proceedings in 2018-19, and the conviction rate was 47 per cent.

The Lord Advocate has said that domestic abuse cases will continue to be prosecuted vigorously and fairly during the coronavirus pandemic. This comes one year after the introduction of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, which criminalised coercive and controlling behaviour towards a partner or

Edinburgh Law School's Dr Guido Rossi has been awarded the Robert Feenstra Prize for the best article published in the Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis / Revue d'Histoire du Droit / The Legal History Review during the years 2017-2019. His article, entitled The barratry of the shipmaster in early

Bloomsbury Professional, the Scots law and tax publisher, has produced a brand new online service for all Scots law students who are currently in lockdown with exams looming.

In the first in a series of jurisprudential primers for Scottish Legal News, Benjamin Bestgen reflects on philosophical thinking. When I studied philosophy, one of the typical remarks from well-meaning people with little knowledge of the subject were pointers to Rodin’s sculpture The Thinker a

A man arrested after a high-speed car chase allegedly told officers he was teaching his dog how to drive. Officers said they found a pit bull behind the wheel of the car when it eventually came to a halt, but the dog's 51-year-old owner was steering.

The Scottish government is attempting to give ministers the power to allow solemn trials to be conducted without juries and to "dismantle in one fell swoop more than 600 years of legal principle" in a move described as a "knee-jerk reaction" at best and something "far more sinister" at worst. The Sc