News

Legislation to ensure more child witnesses are able to pre-record evidence ahead of jury trials has been passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament. The Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Bill aims to minimise distress and improve the quality of evidence given as it will be recor

There will be missing environmental governance mechanisms as a result of the UK leaving the EU, according to the Law Society of Scotland. Without the governance functions of the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Environment Agency, individuals may lose

Alexander Green has been appointed President of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland, General Regulatory Chamber. Mr Green, a graduate of St Andrews and Aberdeen universities, qualified as a solicitor in England & Wales in 1993 and in Scotland in 1995.

The presumption against prison sentences of less than three months has had a “limited” impact and the rule is undermined by the introduction of more offences with short prison terms, The Herald reports. The rule was introduced by the Scottish government in 2011 in an attempt to reduce th

Natasha Brownlee has joined Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) as a managing associate in its banking and financial services team in its Edinburgh office. Ms Brownlee joins from the Sainsbury's Bank and Argos Financial Services Group where she provided legal advice to the business on a wide range of regula

Jason Collins looks at efforts to ensure tech giants pay their taxes.HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) believes that US-based multinational businesses may have underpaid £4.6 billion of UK tax last year, up 35 per cent from £3.4bn in 2017.Figures obtained by Pinsent Masons show that HMRC w

A number of Australia's most notorious criminals are likely to have their convictions quashed because their barrister was a police informant, The Times reports. Nicola Gobbo, 47, one of the country's top defence lawyers, is the subject of a public inquiry that could see murderers and others freed.

Half of vegans feel discriminated against by their employers, while nearly a third have felt harassed at work or unfairly treated due to their veganism, according to a new survey. Researchers discovered that nearly half, 45 per cent, of 1,000 vegan employees questioned have felt discriminated agains

Asbestos sufferers will benefit from an £8,000 fundraiser after dedicated walkers completed a massive 20-mile charity walk.

Dallas McMillan has raised more than £10,000 for charity.

Advocate and family law expert Kirsty Malcolm will deliver a Glasgow seminar on cohabitation next month, hosted by Jones Whyte Law. The seminar, "Increase in Cohabitation and the difficulties arising in these specialist cases", is aimed at lawyers who have dealings with cohabitation issues, includin

A city in the United States has voted to effectively decriminalise the use and possession of magic mushrooms. In the first-ever US referendum on magic mushrooms, 50.6 per cent of voters in Denver, Colorado voted to bar officials from "spending resources to impose criminal penalties" for the use or p

A round-up of human rights stories from around the world. Singapore: Fake news law a 'disaster' for freedom of speech, says rights group

A public park has introduced designated zones for drug dealers after several failed bids to ban them altogether. The manager of the Görlitzer Park in Berlin, Cengiz Demirci, said the "pink zones" would help families and other park visitors feel less intimidated by the dealers.

Two single parent asylum seekers who claimed that the reduction in the level of financial support available to them was “unlawful” have had their appeal rejected. The Inner House of the Court of Session upheld a judge’s decision to dismiss a legal challenge to changes in