Opinion

The long-awaited Supreme Court judgment in Villiers v Villiers [2020] UKSC 30 has been handed down this morning. SKO's Rachael Kelsey has acted for the successful respondent, Mrs Villiers, since 2014 and gives a short summary of the 74-page decision. What was it about?

Benjamin Bestgen gives us the truth about methods of lie detection. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Last month, I sketched out some definition problems we encounter when considering what a lie is. I also noted that humans are bad lie detectors. Research tells us that even supposed experts

Sean White was an instructing solicitor in one of the first virtual appeal hearings before the Inner House of the Court of Session and in the first virtual Court of Session commercial proof. Here he discusses his experiences of the virtual courtroom so far. The Inner House hearing

The introduction of Phase 2 of Scotland's exit from the crisis was welcomed by many. A notable exception, however, was a large number of hospitality businesses, who had been gearing up to re-open outdoor spaces and start to welcome customers back, says Stephen McGowan. Those hopes were dashed when F

The WAG wars continue as Rebekah Vardy files an action for defamation in the High Court of England & Wales against Colleen Rooney, but how would her action fare in Scotland? Scott Clair tells all. Celebrity watchers took a sharp intake of breath last October in what has been described by some pu

Stuart Munro of Livingstone Brown Solicitors responds to SLN's editorial on fatal accident inquiries held remotely. The delays involved in fatal accident inquiries are, in many cases, disgraceful. Bereaved families can struggle to move on with their lives while the circumstances of their loved one&r

Robert More makes some worrying predictions about legally aided criminal defence work in the wake of the lockdown. The Scottish government has recently released the response to its consultation on legal aid reform. The consultation was commissioned in light of the Independent Strategic Review by Mar

Professor Hector MacQueen marshals the evidence for “equitable adjustment” of contracts in Scots law. In Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland v Lloyds Banking Group plc [2013] UKSC 3, 2013 SC (UKSC) 169, Lord Hope of Craighead uttered the following obiter dictum:

In many ways Usman Tariq’s family history reads like a classic immigrant narrative. His grandfather came from Pakistan to Scotland in search of a better life; his father left school early to enter the world of work; Mr Tariq and his two sisters were enabled and encouraged to grab every educati

Blackadders' Hazel Anderson reflects on a furlough period that sounds busier than life at the office. I write this in week 12 of being a furloughed worker. Going from full-time solicitor to full-time stay at home parent to two pre-school children was a little daunting, but frankly a lot less stressf

Dawn Reoch discusses business debt in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. The Before

Predictive policing is no longer just science fiction, as Benjamin Bestgen explains. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Philip K. Dick’s Minority Report is a short story probably better known through its movie adaptation: three mutants with the ability to foresee crimes before they happ

When a defect becomes apparent in a building or structure, how long does the owner have to make a claim? Kathryn Kelly explains more. In Scotland, defects claims have to be made within five years. Time starts to run when loss, injury and damage occurs (section 11(1) of the Prescription and Limi

Coronavirus has had a significant impact on construction projects in terms of delay as well as direct and indirect costs and Claire Logue says it is uncertain how these will be dealt with by the courts. As the Rolling Stones wisely advise us, "You can't always get what you want… but if you tr

Benjamin Bestgen gives readers an introduction to feminist legal philosophy in his latest primer. See his last one here. It might not surprise readers that the majority of philosophical and legal works (including laws) over the course of human history to date were created by men. The reasons for thi