News

Pre-tax profits at DAC Beachcroft – which has offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh – increased by seven per cent to £56 million in the 2019/20 financial year. Profit per member grew three per cent to around £590,000, maintaining the "above £500k" benchmark for the thir

The Open University is seeking practitioners' views on the Scottish criminal system. Lawyers are invited to complete a questionnaire which will investigate their attitudes to the three-verdict system, simple majority and 15-member jury.

Children, including those with Down's syndrome and autism, were left for hours in court cells, a custody watchdog has revealed in a new report. The Lay Observers (LO) said the treatment of young people was unacceptable and a “matter of embarrassment for the criminal justice system. LO comprise

The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has issued a new policy briefing which details how COVID-19 has affected the right to adequate housing in Scotland. Part of a series of briefings highlighting areas of human rights concern during the pandemic, the document explores poverty and increasingly

Digby Brown Solicitors has been awarded platinum level accreditation from Investors in People (IiP) for the second time in a row. The personal injury experts received the accolade after the global watchdog recognised the firm had meaningful values, cared for staff and has a track record for helping

Argentina's former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is suing Google after a search for her name allegedly identified her as the country's "thief in chief". She alleges that Google displayed her position as "thief in chief of Argentina" on 17 May 2020 instead of vice-president of Argen

A Romanian national has succeeded in appealing an extradition order that would have seen her returned to Romania to serve a 13-month prison sentence for a conviction of aggravated theft. The appellant, referred to as DV, argued that her rights under article 8 of the ECHR would be breached by ex

The excessive breadth of the Scottish government's proposed hate crime legislation means it could criminalise social media posts and result in a large number of prosecutions, the Faculty of Advocates has warned. In its 35-page response, the Faculty states that it is not opposed to and indeed support

At least £150 million has been wasted on unusable PPE procured from a company linked to government ministers, according to papers released through judicial review proceedings. The Good Law Project, led by founder Jo Maugham QC, is pursuing litigation over the UK government's "PPE fiasco" at th

The Electoral Reform Society has described the latest House of Lords appointments as "startlingly warped". In a briefing, it found that a majority of peers (58 per cent) were primarily elected politicians prior to entering the Lords – more than double the proportion of current peers in the Lor

Employment law, HR and health & safety specialists Law At Work has recorded a 425 per cent increase in redundancy enquiries as the potential impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Scottish unemployment begins to show. A total of 383 businesses contacted the firm to discuss the process for laying

Iain McDougall discusses the increase in copyright infringement claims during the pandemic. Like most law firms we are seeing trends in certain types of litigation as a result of COVID-19. As expected, we have been asked to assist clients with disputes regarding rental premises, interruption to

A long-awaited review of protections for vulnerable witnesses in the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences in Ireland has backed proposals for anonymity to be extended to defendants in all sexual assault trials, as well as greater supports for complainants. The review, chaired by Tom O&rs

A merger between two suppliers of retail investment platform solutions has been provisionally blocked by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as it could be anti-competitive. FNZ purchased GBST in November 2019. According to the CMA, their merger could lead to UK consumers who rely

Morton Fraser has become only the sixth business out of more than 350,000 headquartered in Scotland to join the 30% Club. The 30% Club sets targets for gender representation at board and executive committee levels amongst the FTSE 350 and asks all members to embrace fully inclusive cultures that con