Opinion

The infamous ‘backstop’ is gone, but the new Irish Protocol could lead to the indefinite jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union within the United Kingdom, writes Oliver Garner of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. The new Protocol on Ireland/N

The issue of whether foster carers are to be regarded as local authority employees and therefore be accorded rights associated with such a position is emotive, but is also extremely important to see resolved, writes Alasdair Docwra. Foster carers are volunteers, who play an absolutely vital rol

Johan Findlay JP OBE looks at the history of women on the JP bench. It is 100 years since the death of Sir Hugh Munro, the Scottish mountaineer best known for listing and climbing mountains in Scotland over 3,000 feet, known now as Munros.

The decision to jail the Catalan leaders has caused widespread outrage. Is the outrage justified? When regional nationalist leaders openly defy the law, what is the proper response of central government? These are questions with which the Spanish Supreme Court has had to grapple. They may yet come t

Danielle Stevenson, senior solicitor at Jones Whyte Law, looks at the collaborative approach to divorce. Often when couples are facing separation and divorce, the immediate thought is the rush to court, opposing sides and a battle. However, the reality is more often than not far from that, particula

Lord Kinclaven shares insights from the MiniTrial legal education scheme, teaching thousands of Scottish pupils about the justice system. Turn back the clock to 2001, when the book Paths to Justice Scotland was published. It was a survey which examined, among other things, the public’s perspec

Solicitor Graeme Di Rollo of Burness Paull examines the Supreme Court's ruling in Shanks v Unilever. This week, the Supreme Court handed down its much anticipated judgment in a long-running legal saga between Unilever and a now former employee called Professor Shanks. The case concerned Prof. Shanks

Alasdair Docwra, family law partner at Thorntons, examines the reaction to proposed surrogacy law reform. The Catholic Church has given its views, some may disagree. Here is the position and here are the benefits of surrogacy in our opinion.

Ewan McIntyre, partner at Burness Paull and expert in professional negligence and financial services litigation with over 25 years’ experience, is currently enjoying a secondment with Racine, one of the main independent French law firms, in its Lyon office. That something might be mo

Public procurement policy and practice, when it comes to facilitating SME involvement, seems to be focused solely upon ensuring there are opportunities at a sub-contract level. But, asks Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie legal director Roddy Cormack, does this focus miss the sweet spot in terms of ac

Advocate Michael Upton of Hastie Stable examines a judgment handed down by the England and Wales Court of Appeal on Tuesday. Tuesday saw the first Court of Appeal judgment about the new Electronic Communications Code (enacted by the Digital Economy Act 2017, amending the Communications Act 2003).

Ben Zielinski, a senior associate in the commercial litigation team at Shoosmiths in Edinburgh, considers the significance of a recent judgment in the Court of Session that has given greater clarification of how much notice a landlord needs to give to terminate a commercial lease in Scotland. A rece

A decision issued last week by the Court of Session in Edinburgh concerning business rates continues a recent trend in which the courts have often upheld arrangements under which full business rates are mitigated through the use of occupational arrangements not seen prior to rates relief being pared

Scotland has always been different from the rest of the UK when it comes to claims and litigation. With a separate jurisdiction and its own unique legal concepts and rules, it has been essential for insurers to understand and acknowledge the quirks of the Scottish system and to deal with them accord

One of the many unintended effects of an EU exit was that it prompted us lawyers to start writing profound things about what it would mean for our areas of practice. In many areas the consequences of an exit from the EU seemed obvious. Family lawyers would see rising divorces with couples separating