News

No new jury trials or physical hearings will commence in the Crown Court, the Lord Chief Justice has announced in a statement intended to "provide some clarity for the coming few days". Lord Burnett of Maldon said: "My unequivocal position is that no jury trials or other physical hearings can take p

Seventy one per cent of men under 40 who were surveyed for a BBC investigation said they’d slapped, choked, gagged or spat on their partner during consensual sex. And a third of those men said they would not ask verbally whether their partner would like them to carry out such an act either bef

Dear Editor, As a (non-legal) retired newspaper journalist with a deep interest in the Scottish courts from my early days, I find the Scottish Legal News bulletin a superb way of keeping up to date with developments, cases, appeals and other news – much of which is, sadly, never reported today

Anderson Strathern has set up a business hub, which includes advice, guidance and updates to help businesses with practical information during the coronavirus outbreak.  Anderson Strathern’s business resilience group is now part of the hub and ready to assist. The group can answer questio

The Royal Navy could be drafted in to help run prisons in England and Wales under contingency plans drawn up to deal with the coronavirus. The unprecedented option will be available to prison bosses if too many prison officers contract COVID-19 and have to stay at home, The Times reports.

Blackadders LLP has raised more than £3,000 for Dundee Carers Centre. A cheque for £3,025.68 was presented to the charity following fundraising by Jack Boyle, a trustee of the centre and director at Blackadders along with the Blackadders’ employment team and friends.

Burges Salmon has been shortlisted in the category ‘Pensions Lawyers of the Year’ at the 2020 UK Pensions Awards. Burges Salmon partner Richard Knight, who heads up the firm’s pensions practice, said: “We’re a forward-thinking team, operating nationwide as well as inter

All legal walks due to take place in the spring have been cancelled and will now take place in September and October this year. The Access to Justice Foundation runs the legal walks annually to help to facilitate access to justice for the poorest and most disadvantaged members of society.

A museum's prize collection of papyrus fragments purporting to be pieces of the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls have been outed as forgeries. The 16 fragments held by the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. have been identified as fakes by Art Fraud Insights, National Geographic reports.

Only essential business will go through the Scottish courts until further notice. The Crown Office has announced contingency arrangements for court business aimed at significantly reducing the demand on the justice system and reducing unnecessary social contact to slow the spread of COVID-19 as it i

The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) has been asked to look urgently at additional steps to improve cashflow and support businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter to practitioners, John Mulholland, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said the Law Society had asked SLAB to consider:

The Housing and Property Chamber has postponed scheduled hearings and case management discussions (CMDs) due to the coronavirus pandemic. Those with an ongoing case will be contacted in due course with this information.  The chamber will contact parties in order of hearing date and has asked pa

Media organisations who claimed that a sheriff’s decision to impose reporting restrictions in a civil case without providing reasons for making the order breached the principle of “open justice” have had their legal challenge dismissed. The BBC, Times Newspapers Limited and News Gr

The Lord Advocate and Chief Constable of Police Scotland have set clear priorities for the investigation and prosecution of crime as measures to tackle the coronavirus outbreak come in to force. In a joint statement, James Wolffe QC and Iain Livingstone QPM stressed their commitment to keeping peopl

Shepherd and Wedderburn has established a COVID-19 advisory group, which draws relevant, specialist expertise from across the firm to support clients with informed, pragmatic legal advice on the unprecedented challenges posed by the global pandemic. The group comprises specialists who are leaders in