Opinion

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

There has been a huge rise in “authorised push payment” or “APP” fraud over recent years. The amounts involved in these scams can be significant, writes Gordon Deane. The High Court in England recently rejected a claim by a bank customer who fell victim to an APP fraud. A dis

Iain Young considers the year ahead in tax. One of the most hackneyed phrases found in articles written by lawyers is that in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. 

Should men be able to reject fatherhood without attracting legal obligations? Benjamin Bestgen considers this and other questions around abortion in this week's jurisprudential primer. See his last one here. Abortion remains the subject of one of the most contentious social debates of

Thomas Ross QC dissects the latest judgment in the fascinating EncroChat saga. In my last article on this topic I predicted widespread legal challenges to attempts by prosecutors to lead evidence obtained as part of the ‘Encro Hack’ – carried out by French police in May 2020. That

Elizabeth Bremner takes a look at what 2021 has in store for employment law. The pandemic dominated most aspects of our lives in 2020 and employment law was no exception. The introduction of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and its subsequent variations was undoubtedly the most talked abo

Deborah Allan takes stock of the steps taken in pursuit of LGBTQ+ equality and inclusivity.  2020 has, without doubt, been one of the most testing experiences many of us have faced in our lifetimes. Unfortunately, the voices of the marginalised are often drowned out at a time when they need to