News

The Scottish government's failure to take steps towards reforming trusts and other areas of law has been criticised by a judge. In his last report as chairman of the Scottish Law Commission, Lord Pentland said that "the position in respect of trust law is concerning".

Scotland’s largest landlord membership organisation has called on the UK government to scrap legislation which makes landlords responsible for checking the immigration status of tenants, after the High Court ruled the law was in breach of human rights legislation. Under the ‘Right t

Lynda Clark, Lady Clark of Calton, has retired from the bench after serving as a judge for 13 years. Lady Clark was appointed a judge of the Supreme Courts in 2006 and was appointed to the Inner House on 1 October 2013.

A legal inquiry into whether people with mental health conditions, cognitive impairments and conditions including autism are experiencing discrimination in the criminal justice system has been launched by the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The inquiry will focus on the accused person

Three lawyers have been made Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In addition to Lord Advocate James Wolffe, Christine Bell, James Chalmers and Lesley Jane Smith have all become Fellows.

Eighteen members of the Faculty of Advocates have gone through intensive training and emerged as Fellows of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. The group used a specially-designed course at Aberdeen University for the first steps on to the platform of international arbitration.Those now proudly

Morton Fraser has appointed Alan Stewart as partner to its commercial real estate team. Mr Stewart, who joins Morton Fraser from Dentons and brings over 20 years’ experience in the Scottish real estate sector will be based in the firm’s Edinburgh office.

The Housing team at law firm Harper Macleod has seen the overall tally for Scottish housing association funding deals it has advised on in the current financial year approach the £500 million mark after the latest investments were announced. Led by partner Derek Hogg, one of Scotland's leading

Charities working to reduce reoffending will share almost £3 million to fund specialist services including employment training, early intervention and support for families of prisoners. Criminal justice social work service provider Sacro and Families Outside, which supports children and famili

Transgender inmates at a women's prison in London are set to be moved to the UK's first transgender prison unit later this week. The new wing at HMP Downview will accommodate three trans women prisoners, all of whom have Gender Recognition Certificates, BBC News reports.

A mystery donor handed over €32,000 to tax collectors with a note identifying it as "conscience money". The cheque was one of several anonymous payments received by Revenue, the Irish tax authority, over the past three years, totalling €62,562.

The High Court of Justiciary has clarified the status of CCTV footage for the purposes of corroboration, confirming that where the only evidence of the crime libelled is the recorded footage and where its provenance is established, it can provide “sufficient evidence” of the &l

Inflationary increases in civil court fees have been condemned by lawyers as being “inimical to access to justice” as they impose a “substantial burden” on litigants with average incomes and are based on the principle of full cost recovery, which has been discredited by the

The Law Society of Scotland is to carry out research on access to legal advice and services in Scotland following a decade of austerity. The Law Society’s Access to Justice Committee is undertaking two projects which will examine the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), which allows pe

After an outstanding legal career spanning nearly 40 years, Susan O’Brien QC is retiring from practice today. Ms O'Brien was a solicitor for six years before calling to the bar in 1987. She took silk in 1998 and has enjoyed a busy and distinguished practice across a wide range of civil litigat