News

A judge in the High Court of England and Wales has awarded an Oxford professor over £985,000 in damages after successfully establishing that the law firm that drew up the trust agreement governing his late mother’s estate had negligently failed to provide a veto over a proposed

New research suggests that while the public views sentencing for sexual assault and rape as lenient, their sentencing choices, when they are presented with case scenarios, are in line with actual sentences. The findings are in two new research reports from the Scottish Sentencing Coun

The number of traineeships offered by solicitors fell by more than a quarter in the last practice year, as the effect of the coronavirus pandemic took its toll, the latest figures show. Traineeship statistics from the Law Society of Scotland reveal that the number of training contracts started in 20

Lord Glennie, vice chairman of the board of the Scottish Arbitration Centre, has been appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) courts. The DIFC courts are an independent English language common law judiciary, based in the DIFC with jurisdiction gove

The Scottish government has lodged amendments to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill, which aims to ensure children’s rights are protected. One amendment gives certainty that the legislation will commence automatically one year aft

Traditionally it has been understood that legal trainees learn best from experience in an office environment but with the advent of the pandemic, Shirley Phillips, director of people at Thorntons, believes that blended learning could enrich the education for trainee solicitors and will influence fut

Three new legislative measures to modernise land ownership in Scotland have been proposed in a new discussion paper. The proposals set out in the Scottish Land Commission paper are designed to address the effects of Scotland’s concentrated land ownership.

The law is to be changed to allow cabinet ministers six months' maternity leave with full pay in a move that will let Attorney General Suella Braverman keep her job after having a baby. The proposal has annoyed some backbenchers who are angry that the maternity rights will be conferred only on secre

Shepherd and Wedderburn has committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and signed the Edinburgh Climate Compact. The firm has adopted an enhanced sustainability strategy, underpinned by a ‘route map’ focused on reducing its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions under the Green

The average property selling price in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders over the past three months was £265,953, up 7.4 per cent compared to the same period last year. In Edinburgh, the average property selling price was £281,386, up 5.3 per cent compared to the previous year

Denmark has become the first country in the world to announce an official "vaccine passport" scheme allowing those vaccinated against Covid-19 to travel abroad. From the end of February, those holding the so-called "corona passport" will be able to travel abroad, relieving pressure on companies whos

A long-standing ban on workers eating at their desks is set to be relaxed in France to help tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. French labour law currently forbids "letting workers take their meal inside the work premises", The Local reports.

The Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary has refused the appeal against conviction of a man who was charged with attempted murder after stabbing his upstairs neighbour in the chest at the doorway of his home. Kevin McGrouther argued that the trial judge had misdirected the jur

The Law Society of Scotland has set out a comprehensive programme for reform in the run up to this year’s Scottish elections, which includes measures to enhance access to justice, boost economic recovery, improve diversity and drive legislative change. In its wide-ranging programme published t

The latest provisional statistics from the UK House Price Index (HPI) show that the average price of a property in Scotland in November 2020 was £165,703, an increase of 8.6 per cent on November 2019. Comparing with the previous month, house prices in Scotland increased by 0.9 per cent between