News

New Zealand is set to decriminalise abortion under new plans intended to bring the law "into line with many other developed countries". Under the present legal framework, which has remained unchanged since 1978, an abortion is only lawful in certain circumstances, including where continuing the preg

Police in a Texas town have been forced to apologise after photos emerged of an arrested black man being led with a rope by two white officers on horseback. The photos attracted sharp criticism on social media and from civil rights groups, who said the images resembled historic photos of slavery and

A man has successfully sued magicians who failed to make his estranged wife return using "magic knowledge". The man, whose name has not been made public, hired the company after it promised in a TV advert that it could "return your wife or loved woman".

A man found guilty of the rape of two former partners on the basis of the principle of “mutual corroboration” has had an appeal against his conviction rejected. The High Court of Justiciary Appeal Court ruled that jury were entitled to infer that the two incidents were part of

The mother of a child with selective mutism has been unsuccessful in establishing that it would be in the child’s best interests to relocate to her native Germany and have that be the child's principal residence. Sheriff Ian Cruickshank heard evidence from MK, the pursuer, who sought a residen

Campaigners have called for the legal fees of bereaved families in fatal accident inquiries (FAI) to be paid out of public funds, just as all Scottish Prison Service (SPS) legal fees are paid for by the taxpayer. The SPS has spent seven times more on solicitor fees in FAIs than bereaved families hav

Anderson Strathern has been re-appointed for a second time to all six lots of the Scottish Government Legal Services Framework following a competitive tender exercise. The framework can be used by the Scottish ministers, including agencies, and central government bodies. It comprises six l

Family law specialists Roger Mackenzie and Emma Letham have joined Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP. Mr Mackenzie, who joins WJM as partner, has specialised in family law since 2005, and led Digby Brown’s family law and adoption practice from 2015. His experience includes acting for indivi

Police should stop calling complainants "victims" in relation to sex offence allegations as it creates a presumption they are telling the truth, a former High Court judge has told The Times. Sir Richard Henriques, who authored a report for Scotland Yard into the failings of the VIP child abuse inves

A sheriff has said the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General should experience work as ordinary prosecutors in a “Walmart approach” to prosecution, The Courier reports. Sheriff George Way was referring to a policy of the US retailer that sees senior managers spend a week per year on the sh

In a further sign that low interest rates are the new normal, Virgin Money has launched a new range of long term fixed rate residential and buy-to-let products, offering borrowers interest rate certainty for up to 15 years. The new products will include overpayments of up to 10 per cent per annum wi

Professor David Cabrelli, professor of labour law at Edinburgh Law School, has been appointed a visiting summer scholar at the University of Oxford. Professor Cabrelli will be conducting research at Oxford until September, hosted by St John’s College and sponsored by the college's Professor Ma

The convener of the Faculty of Advocates' International Committee, James Mure QC, will be one of the speakers at a conference in Northern Ireland to explore major constitutional law issues. The Belfast summer school is hosted by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, John Larkin QC, from 7 to 9

A man who filmed himself throwing a fridge down a cliff while joking about "recycling" was ordered by police to drag it back up – by hand. Police made their own follow-up video of his Sisyphean effort and published it on Twitter, as well as slapping him with a €45,000 fine.

A councillor suspended for making inappropriate remarks to a man seeking to renew his taxi licence has had his appeal against suspension refused by a court, in a case providing that when acting in a quasi-judicial capacity the enhanced protection afforded politicians to make political comment, under