Coronavirus

Victims of crime struggling financially amid the coronavirus pandemic will be able to access assistance worth up to £3,000, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has announced. A victims’ fund of £100,000 will help meet immediate financial needs of victims, paying for a wide range of good

On 26 March 2020 the Working Time (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (WTCA Regulations) were made, coming into force with immediate effect. These regulations affect rights of workers to carry over holidays which they were unable to take due to coronavirus, writes Annika Neukirch. Previo

Shaun George explains how arbitration can help ease the strain of the pandemic on family law. Family law arbitration has, to date, struggled to gain traction as a dispute resolution option given the very effective specialist family law courts in some sheriffdoms and an excellent and well-managed fam

The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) has published new guidance on interim payments for practitioners. From 1 April interim payments can be submitted for A&A (incl. ABWOR), fixed payments and for summary (non-fixed payments incl. summary appeals) accounts during the current crisis.

Following the postponement of ICCA Edinburgh due to COVID-19, ICCA and the Scottish Arbitration Centre have announced that the next ICCA Congress will take place from Monday 1 to Thursday 4 February 2021 in Edinburgh. ICCA president, Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, said: “We are delighted that we w

Businesses and the public in Scotland are now required by law to follow necessary social distancing measures to slow the spread of coronavirus. The Scottish government is using powers from the Coronavirus Bill to make it a criminal offence to flout the strict public health guidance that is helping s

Harper Macleod has made its contribution to the national transition to working from home by launching a virtual work from home (WFH) community for everyone.

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) sets out key information for practitioners and law firms during the pandemic. It is intended to support you to ensure that necessary changes to your service to deal with the current situation do not result in additional avoidable complaints, and t

A solicitor who specialises in contract law expects we will soon see an increased appetite for inserting ‘virus clauses’ into future contracts as a result of the current COVID-19 crisis. Stephen Cotton, partner at Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP, said: “Hindsight is a wonderfu

People claiming to have COVID-19 who deliberately cough at others could be imprisoned for up to 12 months, the Director of Public Prosecutions has warned. The intervention from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) comes after reports in recent days of police, shop workers and vulnerable groups being

More flexible interim payment arrangements for legal aid lawyers will be made but require primary legislation, the Scottish government has announced. Legal aid lawyers have been asked to finalise and submit their accounts "as soon as possible" as legal affairs minister Ash Denham said the Scottish L

Registers of Scotland (RoS) is seeking to have emergency legislation passed which would extend the period of protection afforded by advance notices to 10 days after the next full reopening of the application record. The application record was closed by RoS given the risk posed to employees who

On 25 March, the Scottish government published new guidance on social distancing for businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak, including which businesses are allowed to remain open during the period of so-called “lockdown”. This comes into effect immediately, writes Stephen McGowan. Leisu

Directors across the UK are asking the UK government for a temporary indemnity which allows them to keep technically insolvency firms in operation during the coronavirus pandemic without fear of legal action. Under current legislation, company boards can be sued for failing to wind up a company if i

Advocate Niall McCluskey will be presenting a free one-hour CPD seminar on the Coronavirus Act 2020 on Thursday 2 April at 1pm on Zoom, to which all are welcome. The bill which was fast-tracked through Parliament in three days will give ministers, councils, police, health professionals and coroners