Opinion

James Lloyd, partner at Harper Macleod, writes on how people are being caught out by the requirement for homeowners to remortgage or sell their property at the end of a trust deed to realise the capital. Scotland offers several statutory debt consolidation and payment schemes for those who find them

Alison McAteer, senior solicitor at Brodies LLP and president of Tomorrow’s FOIL (Forum of Insurance Lawyers), and Megan Lafferty, associate at Clyde & Co (Scotland LLP) and Scottish representative of Tomorrow's FOIL, write on the issues facing insurance lawyers in Scotland. In 2018, GDPR

Alyson Cowan, solicitor in the commercial real estate team at Morton Fraser, writes on the importance of limitation clauses in collateral warranties. The recently published judgment of O’Farrell J in Swansea Stadium Management Co. Ltd v Swansea City and County Council ([2018] EWHC 2192 (TCC))

Tracy Kirk makes the case for banning child smacking in Scotland. Should smacking a child be against the law? That’s the fierce debate reaching a vital stage in Scotland at present, where the Parliament’s Equalities Committee will announce on April 25 whether it will back legislation to

Eleanor Mannion and Laurie Anderson look back on the last 20 years of the minimum wage. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the official introduction of the National Minimum Wage in the United Kingdom. The concept, formally introduced in 1999, followed on from a century of development stemm

Brent Haywood looks at a case in which a student anti-abortion group was denied affiliation and how it availed itself of the Equality Act. In the field of human rights and equalities law the cases that grab the headlines are those where a judgment is delivered after a hard-fought legal battle in cou

In an age where viral marketing and social media reign supreme, establishing the best method of enforcing your intellectual property rights (“IPR”) can be a thorny issue. Recent years have seen large companies take an increasingly creative approach to managing their IPR, especially trade

As employment tribunal claim numbers rise across the UK, Natasha Meikle and Claire McKee look at the biggest issue on the topic of age discrimination facing the courts (not to mention public sector employers and their employees) in 2019. The Court of Appeal held at the end of 2018 that the transitio

On 22nd March 2019, Lord Pentland found in favour of the pursuer in respect of his medical negligence claim against Greater Glasgow Health Board and awarded £187,606.27 in damages. Lord Pentland’s opinion makes for a rather encouraging read for those who act for pursuers in these often c

Stephen Cowan looks at summary warrants and their effects and powers. What is a summary warrant?

On Monday 1 April HMRC launched a consultation regarding two changes to Private Residence Relief (PRR) which were announced in the 2018 Budget. PRR applies to the sale of a property which has been the owner’s only, or main, residence at some point during the ownership period. Max Chassels

Caroline Gillespie reflects on the development of the law on domestic abuse as new legislation comes into force today. Today, the law on domestic abuse changes in Scotland. The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 is now in force, creating a new crime of engaging in a course of abusive behaviour

This is the text of a lecture given on 1 April 3000 A.D. by Professor Jonathan Yǔyàn, professor of primitive law at Baffinland University. Michael Upton, advocate, M.C.I.Arb., at the Hastie Stable, has secured a translation from the Chinese, through a wormhole in the space-time continuum. La

The White Rabbit’s plaintive cries in Alice in Wonderland also struck a chord over the question of lateness and the consequences of this in the reported Scottish case of Anji Mannas v Chief Constable of the Police Service of Scotland, writes Mark Hastings. In Mannas, the pursuer was a passenge

April is always a busy time of year for employers, and April 2019 will be no different. Jamie Meechan outlines some of the key changes to look out for. EU Settlement Scheme