News

The murderer of Aberdeen-born woman Neomi Smith, who was also convicted of minor assaults and behaving in an abusive or threatening manner towards her, has had his appeal against his sentence refused. Keith Rizzo, who was the deceased’s partner at the time, argued that the sentence imposed on

President of the Supreme Court, Lord Reed, has said he hopes an ethnic minority justice will be appointed to the UK's highest court before he retires in six years' time. He said the lack of diversity on the Supreme Court bench was a situation "which cannot be allowed to become shameful".

Proposed legislation giving undercover police and MI5 agents explicit permission to commit criminal offences goes "too far" and should be watered down, a former head of the English prosecution service has said. Lord Macdonald of River Glaven, who served as director of public prosecutions from 2003 t

Lord Hodge has been appointed a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. The jurisdiction's chief executive, Carrie Lam, accepted the recommendation to appoint Lord Hodge, Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court, as a non-permanent judge from another common law jurisdiction.

A Scottish judge will preside in the trial of Félicien Kabuga over his alleged involvement in the Rwandan genocide. Lord Bonomy, the UK's judge on the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, was assigned by Judge Carmel Agius and will sit with Judge Graciela Su

The latest available figures for Scottish Legal News show continued growth for SLN with a surge of new users of the www.scottishlegal.com website. Subscribers to the free daily newsletter increased by 144 to 13,420. Twitter followers increased by 145 to 10,838 and LinkedIn increased by 212 followers

Alleged victims of rape and sexual assault across Scotland are a step closer to being able to use forensic medical examination services without first having to report a crime. The Forensic Medical Services Bill will enable people to access healthcare and refer themselves for a forensic medical exami

Solicitor, chartered accountant and property entrepreneur David Lockhart has died. Mr Lockhart led Scottish company Halladale to the stock market before selling it and setting up real estate investment trust NewRiver REIT.

Fourteen devils have been welcomed by the Faculty of Advocates to a greatly-adapted training programme.

From July 1 to September 30, the average selling price in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders was £266,149, up 5.2 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to property consultant ESPC.

Construction companies, engineering firms and other businesses active in the infrastructure sector stand to lose out on funding, investment and major government contracts around the world unless they take a more active role in the fight against climate change. A growing imperative for infrastructure

The Citizens Rights Project will brief local authority and third sector staff working with vulnerable EU nationals about the EU Settlement Scheme in a free webinar. The webinar is aimed at professionals working with vulnerable EU citizens in local authorities and third sector organisations, in colla

Judges are to be trained to spot the signs of dementia in defendants amid an increase in the number of citizens finding themselves in court for the first time over petty crimes. Solicitor Mark Hatzer, 53, who is also a deputy district judge, has created a course for judges to aid them in identifying

A prisoner who complained of intolerable pain was found to have four phones lodged in his rectum. The man, imprisoned in the Indian city of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, who had been jailed in a case of an 'unnatural offence', was rushed to hospital, where the discovery was made.

A subcontractor involved in the Aberdeen Harbour Expansion Project has succeeded in establishing that the main contractor of the project breached the terms of their contract by omitting work within the scope of the subcontract and transferring it to other companies.  The pursuer, Van Oord UK Lt