Opinion

In March 2020, I wrote about the rising tide of climate change litigation and how the courts were being used by activists as an alternative to traditional protest activities. The trends we were beginning to see have continued unabated over the last 18 months. As of October 2021, almost 1,900 climate

Businesses are watching closely the outcomes of COP26 because decisions made will have a profound impact on their future, affecting what kind of activity will be possible, what kind of finance (if any) will be available, and changing the value of assets currently held. Following Wednesday’s an

Emma Barclay has been promoted to partner within the corporate team at BTO Solicitors LLP. Ms Barclay, who joined BTO as a trainee solicitor in 2012, has focused on corporate law throughout her career. A valued team member, she has progressed through the ranks in less than a decade and will play a k

Martin Sinclair, partner at Mackinnons, reflects on the career of retiring colleague Denis Yule and wishes him well for the future. After 50 years of distinguished legal service within the profession, Denis Yule, solicitor with Mackinnons Solicitors LLP has decided to fully retire.

Rebecca Barrass takes a look at Fraserburgh Harbour Commissioners v McLaughlin & Harvey Limited. A recent appeal hearing before the Inner House of the Court of Session has confirmed that in circumstances where parties have a contractual agreement to use an alternative dispute resolution mechanis

David Flint, Balfour and Manson litigation partner, retired at the end of last month. Here he looks back at his 40-year career in legal practice. I think I was the last of the apprentice generation starting with Guild and Guild WS in Rutland Square Edinburgh in 1979. Even before I was qualified, I w

Shockwaves reverberated through the cycling community recently when a jury returned a ‘not proven’ verdict against a car driver, Jordan McDowall, following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow. The 21-year-old was acquitted of causing the death of 51 year-old cyclist, Kevin Gilchrist, by

Greenpeace has failed in its challenge to the grant of consent to drill at BP's Vorlich field, East of Aberdeen. The decision of the Inner House of the Court of Session earlier this month is the latest in a rapidly growing series of activist challenges to the approvals or permits for oil and gas, ma

Malcolm Combe, lecturer in law at Strathclyde University and chair of the Land and Human Rights Advisory Forum, looks at the relevance of land and human rights now and what the work of the newly-established forum hopes to achieve.  This is a blog post about the new land and human rights forum,

The term "zoonotic disease" is one which has entered the public vocabulary in the past 18 months as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, for those working with livestock, zoonoses aren't a new concern. A recent Health & Safety prosecution highlights the serious consequences for businesses

Philip Alston, the John Norton Pomeroy professor of law at NYU School of Law, argues that gender diversity on the International Court of Justice must be taken more seriously. In Is There a Special Practice?, Antonios Tzanakopoulos has written a very learned post seeking to dispel the notion that the

A three year limitation period applies in the majority of injury claims in both Scotland and England, with the courts in both jurisdictions having equitable discretion to allow a claim to proceed despite being issued late. This raises the question of the effect in this context of a period of delay o

We will hear lots about net-zero targets and tackling climate change in the coming weeks as COP26 arrives in Glasgow. Scotland has set itself the ambitious target of reducing emissions of all greenhouse gases to net zero by 2045. The rest of the UK, in common with most other countries, is targeting

When 12 ships from the Crimean port of Kaffa docked at Messina, Sicily, in October 1347 they carried more than onward consignments of exotic articles from the ancient oriental silk route. They also brought the bacterium versinia pestis. This had been passed from rodents and fleas to the ships’

With the business use of artificial intelligence (AI) on the rise, there are key legal and contractual risks that businesses using, or supplying, AI need to consider, writes Phillip Kelly. As with most contracts for the sale of products, any contract for the supply or provision of AI is likely to co