News

The head of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has told Holyrood's Justice Committee that judge-only trials were “not completely off the table”. The Scottish government's original proposals along these lines were met with a furious backlash. Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf thereaft

New legislation that will allow mixed sex couples to enter a civil partnership for the first time in Scotland has passed its first stage at Holyrood. MSPs have voted to support the general principles of the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill, which will extend to mixed sex couples the rights given to

People suspected of terrorism offences would face minimum jail terms of 14 years under proposed legislation. Under the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill, introduced to Parliament today, the standard of proof for terrorism prevention and investigation measures (Tpims) imposed on individuals who a

The Scottish Law Agents Society (SLAS) has been successful in its campaign to extend the period during which a refund of additional dwellinghouse supplement tax (ADS) may be claimed by people who have purchased a new home but are still to sell their existing one due to delays caused by the pandemic.

Dundee-based building sector investment firm United Capital has announced the appointment of leading employment solicitor Ryan Russell as in-house legal counsel and non-executive director. After the company’s most recent acquisition, the group, which includes former Scotland top 500 building s

Rachel Walker, solicitor and associate at the Legal Services Agency, discusses the provisions for vulnerable adults in the coronavirus legislation. The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 came into force on 7 April 2020. This legislation has received significant attention in the Scottish

A drug trafficker has been sentenced to death in Singapore in a remote court hearing held using Zoom. Malaysian national Punithan Genasan, 37, was convicted on Friday of complicity in heroin trafficking in 2011.

Featured in the latest Signet magazine, celebrated South African lawyer and social justice campaigner Professor Thuli Madonsela is to be admitted as a fellow of the WS Society.

Terra Firma is pleased to announce the next in its 2020 Vision series of webinars: 2020 Vision - Bringing clarity to employment law in the time of COVID-19 will be broadcast on Zoom at 11am on Tuesday, 26 May 2020. Chaired by David Logan, this 1-hour webinar will feature talks co

Benjamin Bestgen considers judges and politics (click here to view his last jurisprudential primer). See also SLN's review of Lord Sumption's book dealing with the same theme. In April 2020, Polish Supreme Court President Malgorzata Gersdorf retired. She noted that she had been unable to stop contes

A group of young men who gave cider to cows have been fined for flouting lockdown restrictions. A video posted on social media showed a group of men feeding a can of Strongbow cider to a cow in Essex, weeks before England's lockdown measures were relaxed.

An oilfield tool manufacturing company has succeeded in its petition to restore its former licensees to the register of companies so that they could be the defendants in an action before the federal court of Texas in which they were the plaintiff. MCR Oil Tools LLC alleged that members of the&n

Fraud cases in Scotland are expected to rise this year as fraudsters are increasingly taking advantage of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a new report from accountancy and business advisory firm BDO. Fraudsters are understood to be taking advantage of the COVID-19 outbreak, with mass hom

Legislation providing for the introduction of a points-based UK immigration system after Brexit has passed second reading in the House of Commons. The Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill 2020, supported by the Democratic Unionist Party, was passed by 351-252.

Police Scotland has been reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) over the use of breath tests during the pandemic. The Scottish Police Federation (SPF) said in a letter to the HSE that it was concerned for officers' safety while conducting drink drive tests.