Dr Kath Murray, Lucy Hunter Blackburn and Lisa Mackenzie of MurrayBlackburnMackenzie comment on proposed changes to a bill approaching stage three at Holyrood. This week an important bill will reach its final stage in the Scottish Parliament. The Forensic Medical Services (Victims of Sexual Offences
Opinion
"Oh, sinnerman, where you gonna run to? Sinnerman where you gonna run to?" sang Nina Simone of those who flee judgement. But even the ends of the Earth were no safe haven for Adolf Eichmann. Benjamin Bestgen tells the tale this week of the most famous rogue Nazi and his dramatic rendition to th
Maya Allen reflects on her traineeship in this difficult year and the adjustments she has had to make. When I secured my legal traineeship, walking into an empty office with a mask on was not quite how I imagined my first day at a law firm. I’d been looking forward to my first day for so long
Gordon Lindhurst examines a recent US judgment on religious meetings during the pandemic, finding that it parallels European cases. In granting injunctive relief against fixed limits on the number of attendees allowed at religious services due to Covid, the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) in Roman Ca
Martin Devine discusses the evolution of the office space in the wake of Covid-19. It’s almost as hotly contested as the lockdown v no lockdown debate – will the UK ever return to 9-5 office working or is trillions of sq ft of prime office space doomed to lie empty?
Vick Ward discusses proposed changes to the role of Companies House. The government’s recent response to the consultation on options to enhance the role of Companies House and increase the transparency of UK corporate entities focused on a plan to reform the powers Companies House has in regar
Dr Sandra Duffy comments on the English High Court ruling on children's access to puberty blockers, the subject of today's case summary. The High Court this week handed down its judgment in the case of Bell v Tavistock NHS Trust, which case concerned a judicial review of the practice of the Tavistoc
Roz Boynton details the key compensation points in a case in which the claimant was severely injured in a road traffic accident in 2013. As a lawyer specialising in complex and serious injury cases, I was delighted to read the landmark judgment of the English Court of Appeal in Swift v Carpenter (20
Does lawful act duress exist at all and, if so, in what circumstances may it be invoked? These are the questions which face the Supreme Court in Times Travel (UK) Limited v Pakistan International Airlines Corporation which was heard by the court on 2 and 3 November 2020, writes Richard McMeeken
The first judgment in the case of Lloyds Banking Group Pensions Trustees Ltd v Lloyds Bank PLC & Others (HC-2017-001399), issued in 2018, made it clear that pension benefits must be equalised for the effect of unequal Guaranteed Minimum Pensions ("GMPs") as between men and women, writes Laura To
Conservative MSP and former solicitor Murdo Fraser says his party will press the Lord Advocate on the unanswered questions and strange circumstances surrounding the malicious prosecution of people involved with Rangers. The latest twist in the ongoing scandal in connection with the prosecution
"Usura rusteth the chisel/It rusteth the craft and the craftsman", wrote Ezra Pound. Benjamin Bestgen this week explains the practice of usury. See last week's primer here. In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice we encounter two people lending money: the Christian merchant Antonio and the Jew
In part two of his reflection on the life of Henry Dundas, Chris Holme retells the episode that would be his undoing, see part one here. It was a banking scandal on an epic scale involving flagrant misuse of public funds and fearless investigators.
Solicitor advocate Robert More calls for the preservation of the not proven verdict and argues in favour of reforming Scotland's jury system. Last week I had my first experience of the virtual jury system which Lady Dorrian’s working party secured to ensure the continuation during lockdown of
Julie Greig gives her top tips for virtual court hearings. I was recently involved in an evidential hearing in the Commercial Court of the Court of Session, which was set down over eight days and took place by WebEx.