Opinion

Douglas J. Cusine asks why Scotland's Justice Secretary, Humza Yousaf, has been so quiet about the malicious prosecution scandal.

Couples who split up often have very different views on how to do things and Covid-19 has magnified this enormously, write Shona Smith and Lynne Mulcahy. We have seen the breakdown of lots of arrangements for shared child care that rubbed along perfectly well until last year.

The European Commission has published two draft “data adequacy” decisions in favour of the UK. If approved, these adequacy decisions will allow personal data to be transferred from the EU to the UK, without the need for organisations to put in place any additional safeguards. As such, th

Dan Traynor discusses people of faith in the LGBTQ+ community, noting the unique challenges they face. Religions across the globe host a variety of views and teaching on the rights and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, ranging from condemnation to complete acceptance. For this reason, many LGBTQ+ people

For me, “Pink Lady” will always refer to one of Rizzo, Marty, Frenchy or Jan – together with their pink jackets and crazy wigs. What might come to mind for most, though, are the renowned Pink Lady Apples. The Australian company Apple and Pear Australia Limited, responsible for the

When I first embarked on my legal career, I never thought for a moment that the profession I so eagerly wanted to join and belong to would also be the profession in which I felt trapped.  After a successful career spanning 20 years, its only once I left that I truly recognised my failings, as w

In Scotland, vulnerable individuals who find themselves arrested and prosecuted for criminal offences may be eligible for support at various stages of the criminal process in order to allow them to participate effectively. The nature of, and entitlement to, such support depends on the stage in which

If we truly want to reduce offending within our communities in Scotland then we must move beyond tokenistic, meaningless terms like being “hard” or “soft” on crime. We need to be cleverer, writes Iain Smith. ‘Smart Justice’ offers a chance to stand back from the c

This week Benjamin Bestgen considers swearing, without which many of us would struggle to get through the day. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Unrelated to jurisprudential questions, a colleague recently mentioned the Jersey employment tribunal case of Wilkinson v Fairway Trust Limited [20

Many will think of defamation as the primary recourse in battles between public figures and those who seek to comment on them but a recent High Court decision in England and Wales (Sussex v Associated Newspapers Ltd [2021] EWHC 273 (Ch)) shows that, under the right circumstances, protection of priva

Douglas J. Cusine asks, among other things, why Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has said nothing about the malicious prosecution scandal? In his statement to Parliament about the prosecution of Whitehouse and Clark, the Lord Advocate made three observations. One was that there should be a judicial in

Rachel Henry considers the importance of words and their meaning in insurance contracts. Words matter. The meaning of words and the way they are interpreted matter. The wording used in insurance contracts can be crucial to the outcome of legal cases, as we saw on 8 February 2021 when the United King

Trainee Lucy Campbell reflects on mental health in the LGBTQ+ community. Selisse Berry, executive director of the workplace equality organisation Out & Equal, once said: “I believe that no one should ever have to choose between a career we love and living our lives with authenticity a

Solicitor advocate Andrew Stevenson describes Scotland's persecution of people deemed to be witches as "shameful and absurd", but explains why a pardon is not without its own problems. Collective pardons are becoming popular; the Scottish ministers have turned their attention to miners convicted dur

The introduction of mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for employees could create a variety of legal problems for companies, warns Liam Entwistle. Scotland’s Covid -19 vaccination roll-out continues to be in the spotlight and one area that’s attracting particular attention is the introducti