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A former lord president has said that two major public inquiries that cost £25 million in total have achieved “very little”. In a letter to MSPs considering judge-led public hearings, Lord Carloway, 71, who retired this year, criticised the inquiries into tainted blood and Edinburg

North Carolina’s law enforcement watchdog is proposing new standards that would explicitly ban police officers from having sex while on duty, in uniform, in police vehicles, or with subordinates and trainees. The initiative, led by the state’s Criminal Justice Education and Training Stan

Shoosmiths in Scotland has appointed Steven Stewart as partner within its growing real estate division. Mr Stewart is based in Shoosmiths’ Glasgow office, leading the Scottish planning and environmental practice for the firm.

The UK’s new Failure to Prevent Fraud (FTP) offence came into force yesterday but many Scottish businesses remain underprepared to comply with their legal obligations, according to Dentons. Discussions with industry and informal research conducted by the firm from February through to June 2025

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has re-launched its policy for businesses wishing to ‘self-report’ economic crime, significantly expanding the range of offences eligible to be self-reported. The self-report initiative was originally introduced in 2011 to mark the c

Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws LT KC has been awarded the Order of Merit of Ukraine of the III degree by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.  The award was conferred on Ukraine’s Independence Day on 24 August.

Commercial Property lawyer Keith Rawlinson has joined Lindsays. Mr Rawlinson, who lives in Crieff, where Lindsays also has an office, brings with him more than 20 years’ experience of advising in areas including landlord and tenant issues, asset management, and property investment and developm

Addleshaw Goddard has recruited Fiona Cameron as a new partner in its finance team in Glasgow, where the firm it is set to double its office size in January 2026. Ms Cameron, who joins the firm from Shoosmiths, has a focus on real estate finance among a broad finance practice, which includes corpora

Miscarriages of Justice will be highlighted at a Franco-British Lawyers Society conference to be held in Edinburgh on 18-20 September. The event will start with the opening of an exhibition of sculptures by the fashion designer and sculptor Nicole Farhi, include a Gala Dinner in Parliament Hall, and

MBM Commercial has appointed Jamie Nellany as the firm’s head of restructuring and insolvency. In this new role for the firm Mr Nellany will deliver advice on a full range of restructuring and insolvency matters to the firm’s corporate and commercial clients. He will be based in the firm

A new report has called on Police Scotland to improve the quality of its uniforms after a review revealed many officers are buying their own trousers, fleeces, boots and jackets rather than wear the poor quality and ill-fitting kit provided. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland found that whi

Scotland remains the drug death capital of Europe despite the fact the number of deaths caused by drug misuse fell by 13 per cent to 1,017 last year – the lowest level registered since 2017. According to statistics published by National Records of Scotland today, there were 155 fewer deaths in

A Wisconsin man who faked his death and fled abroad has been sentenced to 89 days in jail – the same number of days he was missing. Ryan Borgwardt, 45, pleaded no contest to obstructing an officer. Both prosecution and defence recommended 45 days in jail, but the judge matched the sentence to

Since October 2023, about 200 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza and Lebanon. The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has determined that 21 of those deaths involved people targeted specifically because of their work as journalists, describing the killings as “m

The Crown Office has lodged a first notice with the Sheriff Court to begin the court process for the fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the deaths of Lee McKinsley and Barry Watson.  Both men died while in legal custody at HMP Barlinnie during December 2020.