Opinion

Blackstone pointed out that “it is but lost labour to say, ‘do this, or avoid that’, unless we also declare, ‘this shall be the consequence of your noncompliance.’ We must therefore observe, that the main strength and force of a law consists in the penalty annexed to it

Hot on the heels of the Wagatha Christie saga which brought defamation arising from social media into the minds of many, new legislation which reforms the law of defamation in Scotland came into force on 8 August. Baktosch Gillan and Mike Kemp explain the details. Prior to the Defamation and Ma

We find ourselves at a crucial juncture in the development of environmental law. Last month, the Met Office recorded a temperature over 40 degrees for the first time in the UK. The combined pressures of climate change, increasing focus of the Scottish government on environmental issues, and post-pan

Employment Appeal Tribunal find that claimant's beliefs were protected under the Equality Act but that he had not been discriminated against. The claimant in Mackereth v Department for Work and Pensions was a Christian doctor who (1) held a belief that a person cannot change their sex/gender at will

The curtain has fallen on one of the most absorbing trials to play out in recent years, in front of a captivated public who welcomed the light relief of a glossy WAG drama during a period of national turmoil. While the Vardy v Rooney contest undoubtedly captured the public interest those of us with

Richard Hepburn examines the current trends observed in Landmark Information Group's Q2 property trends report. It could be argued that, compared to the England and Wales property market, the Scottish market entered Q2 at something of a disadvantage as Covid restrictions stayed in place longer than

Andrew Scott explains the Quincecare duty. In our recent blog, we considered the duty of care Banks owe to their customers to protect them from fraudulent activity. In a decision of the Privy Council in Royal Bank of Scotland International Ltd (Respondent) v JP SPC 4 and another (Appellants) (I

To protect customers, the UK government has introduced a new code of practice and ombudsman scheme applying to all private buyers of new homes for owner-occupation anywhere in the UK. Finlay Campbell explains the details. The New Homes Quality Board (NHQB), an independent body established by Westmin

Politics has been a very odd place over the last few weeks and months, where apparently in starting consideration of a policy proposal, the law has not always seemed to be the first point of reference and politics rather than law has been the deciding factor. It is almost a relief to be back looking

Kirsteen Maclean discusses the intricacies of corporate insolvency. Research undertaken by the insolvency and restructuring trade body R3, in Scotland, revealed that the number of insolvency cases (liquidations and receiverships), for the last quarter of 2021, was 164 per cent higher compared to the

Dr Claire Lightowler shares emerging findings and insights from her work on a scoping study to better understand the legal needs of children and young people in conflict with the law. Thanks to funding from The Promise Partnership’s ‘A Good Childhood’ fund, Clan Childlaw is underta

Dr Conor McCormick of Queen's University Belfast examines recent developments concerning the office of attorney general and its equivalents. This month marks the publication of my book on The Constitutional Legitimacy of Law Officers in the United Kingdom, which contains a detailed analysis of the f

The recent case of Free Miles v The Royal Veterinary College, featuring Dorothy the turkey, shares striking similarities to one of my early employment tribunal cases. In that memorable case, the claimant had “rescued” (we said “stolen”) a duck (unnamed) from her employer beca

Nicola Sturgeon has made her grand gambit, presenting a draft bill to the Scottish Parliament to hold a referendum on Scottish independence on October 19, 2023. The draft contained the referendum question, established the modalities for the poll, and even provided for the font of the print on the ba

On 1 June 2022, two changes came into force in Scotland which change the law around when claims expire under a construction contract. The general starting point is the same – if a claim has not been raised within five-years of the loss, injury or damage occurring then (unless one of the except