Opinion

Rebecca Ablett serves up a two-course dish of intellectual property delights from Luxembourg. The IP world has been cooking up quite a storm this summer with two particularly interesting cases featuring on last month’s menu for the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”

Chris Gardiner looks at electronic wills after a French court in the city of Metz ruled that a text message could not be regarded as a valid will. The text message stated that the deceased individual wanted a share of his estate to go to his mother instead of his wife, who he was separated from

Recently, the Court of Appeal ruled that Dr Bawa-Garba should be reinstated to the medical register following the widely publicised case involving her care of six-year-old Jack Adcock in 2011, which led to his tragic death. The case has sparked international debate in relation to support available f

Jacqueline Cook looks at recently passed legislation aiming to promote and protect the interests of the islands. The Our Islands, Our Future campaign started in 2014 culminated in the enactment of the Islands (Scotland) Act on 6 July. It enshrines in law increased representation and control over dev

A recent Supreme Court ruling in an English case offers highly persuasive guidance on whether Scottish employers who are sued for their employees’ alleged acts owe a duty of care to those employees when defending such civil proceedings. This guidance could have implications for the conduct of

Scott Clair comments on a recent Sheriff Appeal Court case that found the scope of non-vested contingent interest to be greater than previously thought. Where an individual is sequestrated, the totality of their assets and potential assets (subject to certain exceptions) will pass to (or “vest

On 18 July the EU Commission handed Google a record fine of £3.8bn (€4.34bn) for abuse of its dominant position in relation to the Android operating system. David Flint and Rebecca Henderson explain why the tech giant incurred the Commission's wrath. What is a dominant position?

Scottish insolvency practitioners may be able to use a decision of the Supreme Court in an English case on time limit in support of bringing claims against company directors, even if the claims are over five years old and, on the face it of it, are out of time, writes Katrina Lumsdaine. The Sup

Val Surgenor and Rebecca Henderson discuss a French case that will likely serve as guidance on the interpretation of "consent" under GDPR. Location data is a tool useful for marketers to reach mobile app users with targeted, specific advertising. For example, you are scrolling through your favourite

Scotland's commercial property sector stands to benefit from proposed reforms to business rates – on which the Scottish government is currently consulting, writes Alan Cook. The Scottish government's consultation paper sets out its proposed approach to various aspects of the Barclay Review of

A Court of Session or Sheriff Court action can be raised for the sole purpose of obtaining security pending the outcome of a case being decided in a foreign court, according to the recent Inner House case of AA v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Commission for

John Forsyth looks at the revival of the Notable British Trials series. The first Notable Scottish Trial, Trial of Madeleine Smith, was published in the autumn of 1905. It was published by William Hodge and Company whose intent that it would be the first of a series was clear from the plural Notable

The recent decision in ICI v Merit Merrell Technology is the latest in a series of decisions in the dispute – described by Mr Justice Fraser as ‘long-running, and bitterly fought’ – relating to steelworks to be carried out by MMT at a new paint manufacturing facilit

A case involving the iconic luxury handbag designer Mulberry has looked at the law around discrimination on the grounds of a rather unusual philosophical belief, writes Claire Scott. Ms Gray worked as a market support assistant for Mulberry and had access to some of Mulberry’s design

A recent widely reported settled claim by a hospitality worker highlighted the controversy that continues to persist with Zero Hour Contracts (ZHC).  Kenny Scott considers the issues that often surround this form of employment arrangement and highlights why ZHC’s still have an import