News

Criminal law advocates are readying themselves for a major change in procedure which will come into effect in the New Year. Commencement Regulations have been laid before Parliament to introduce provisions of the Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2019 from 20 January.

The company behind a shop selling Harry Potter memorabilia faces a lawsuit from Hollywood, The Times reports. Gold Brothers, which owns The Great Wizard store in Edinburgh, has been taken to the High Court of England and Wales by Warner Bros for alleged breach of its intellectual property rights.

Community ownership is increasing across Scotland, new figures from Scotland's chief statistician show. Community Ownership in Scotland 2018 presents the number of assets in community ownership, the number of community groups that own assets and the total area of assets in community ownership.

Jonathan Seddon determines the pros and cons of a modular approach to delivering homes compared to traditional building. The use of the pre-fab (or modular) building is by no means a new concept in the UK. Historically, it came to the forefront of construction following the Second World War. At a ti

Three heart patients died after an angry mob of lawyers rampaged through a hospital in Lahore in a dispute with doctors. Some 200 lawyers in their traditional black suits descended upon the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), destroying windows and doors and setting a police van on fire.

Increased take-up of artificial intelligence technology in the legal sector could put tens of thousands of paralegals and other support staff out of a job, according to research published by the Law Society of England and Wales. The legal regulator commissioned the Institute for Employment Studies (

Last night saw Harper Macleod host the first of its quarterly construction club seminars.

A law firm in Glasgow is donating a share of £3,000 to three local charities this Christmas, as part of the firm’s commitment to relieving poverty and suffering among the homeless during the festive season.

The EU's decision to gift 250 camels to a country known for having millions of camels has been derided by locals. The animals will be deployed in Mauritania's military camel cavalry units, but critics took to social media to say they would have preferred a high-tech contribution.

A legal action by Glasgow City Council against bus operator First Glasgow to recover £860,000 in damages plus more than £40,000 in expenses paid to the family of one of the victims of the tragic bin lorry crash five years ago has been dismissed. The local authority cl

Writing for Scottish Legal News, Rachael Kelsey, lawyer for Mrs Villiers in Villiers v Villiers, discusses the details of the case, which was heard by the Supreme Court this week. Villiers v Villiers, the first intra-UK Maintenance Regulation case to be heard by the Supreme Court, has grow

An app version of the Letter of Rights given to people in police custody has been suggested by the Faculty of Advocates. The Scottish government introduced the Letter of Rights for Scotland in 2013 and updated it last year. Ministers are now consulting on further possible changes.

The Scottish government has said the time is right to normalise mediation and other forms of dispute resolution but that public consultation is required in advance of proceeding with reform. In a response to the independent review of mediation, the government detailed proposals for review.

The Law Society of Scotland’s Planning Law Sub-Committee is inviting Scottish solicitors and interested stakeholders to share their views on the subject of planning obligations under section 75 (Planning Obligations) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. 

The deliberate starvation of civilians during an armed civil conflict has been established as a war crime under an amendment to the Rome Statute underpinning the International Criminal Court (ICC). An amendment to article 8, paragraph 2 (e) of the Rome Statute was proposed by Switzerland and agreed