Opinion

To mark the end of Pride Month, Beverley Addison, a senior solicitor in BTO’s family law team, takes us on a journey in the coming days through the history of family law in Scotland for LGBTQ+ people. It is hard to believe that homosexuality was only fully decriminalised in Scotland 20 years a

Money’s notoriously tight in Scottish football. So, could new transfer rules see clubs yield better value for money by signing the best talent from further afield? writes John Kiely. In most circumstances, it’s now easier for African and South American players to be endorsed – in o

Elizabeth Denham, the UK Information Commissioner, discusses data extraction from phones as the rules catch up with reality.  There are few regulators that have as broad a role as the ICO, with our data protection work particularly impacting every business and public authority.

The UK's data protection regime has been given a pass by the EU, for now. Paul Motion explains the details. The European Commission has adopted two data “adequacy decisions” for the UK. This action resolves a major concern after Brexit, that whilst personal data flowing from the UK to th

Iskander Fernandez, partner at law firm BLM, discusses HMRC's role in leading over 12,000 interventions into the use of UK government Covid support schemes. Research by BLM into the various coronavirus-related fiscal support schemes revealed that at the close of Q1 2021, HM Revenue & Customs (HM

Bob McIntosh, the Tenant Farming Commissioner, spoke at a conference on agricultural law at the beginning of June and gave a useful update of his activities and a range of issues surrounding agricultural tenancies. Hamish Lean has the details. He had received 139 inquiries from agricultural landlord

As the Bribery Act 2010 approaches its 10th birthday on 1 July, Tom Stocker explains why it is widely recognised as an excellent piece of legislation which transformed the corporate compliance landscape. The Bribery Act simplified the law of bribery by making it clear that bribery arose when a perso

How much are you charged by your financial adviser? It seems a very simple question, doesn’t it? However, it is often avoided, dodged or circumvented by financial advisers. Fees should be simple. There are three main ways of charging as a financial adviser: charge a fixed fee per annum, charge

Louise Usher looks at the implication of the recent case of Maya Forstater, a woman who succeeded in an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal after losing her job for saying people cannot change their biological sex. The Employment Appeal Tribunal has concluded that gender-critical view

Since the beginning of the millennium, the USA and the EU Member States have created and implemented legislation intended to provide limited exceptions to hosts’ liability when illegal or infringing content has been uploaded by internet users, writes James McFarlane. This was an important prot

With 30 September signaling the termination of furlough support from the UK government, barring any change of heart, it is inevitable that many employers will be reducing headcount, writes Stuart Robertson. Before your business goes down the path of reducing staff numbers, there are important p

What is the CMA doing about 'greenwashing'? Scott Rodger explains all. The ethical consumer market in the UK has increased four-fold since 1999 and is now conservatively estimated at over £40 billion per annum. Consumers are actively changing their behaviours in favour of more sustainable

Elizabeth Denham, the UK Information Commissioner, expresses serious concern over facial recognition technology. Facial recognition technology brings benefits that can make aspects of our lives easier, more efficient and more secure. The technology allows us to unlock our mobile phones, set up

New rules have been introduced into Scottish courts that mean from 30 June, the majority of parties seeking damages for personal injuries or death will not be liable for the expenses of their opponent if their action fails, writes Bruce Craig. The rules represent a fundamental change in the way expe

Scott Styles suggests how reform of the offices of Lord Advocate and Solicitor General might be achieved. It is a long-standing but nevertheless unsatisfactory feature of Scots law that the Lord Advocate performs two quite incompatible roles. On the one hand, the Lord Advocate is the head of the Sco