| Whatever the constitutional proprieties involved in a UK Cabinet Minister getting publicly impatient about the lack of visible activity in the Crown Office with regard to possible prosecutions of ex-directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland (see here), it is of some interest to compare the situation today with that revealed in Robert Shiels' recently published article, "The criminal trial of the directors of the City of Glasgow Bank" 2013 Juridical Review 27-40. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The UK Supreme Court pronounced on 23 January 2013 in the much discussed case of Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland v Lloyds Banking Group plc [2013] UKSC 3, reversing the First Division and reinstating Lord Glennie's decision in the Outer House, in favour of the Bank and against the Foundation. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The BBC reports on 15 August 2012 that Lord Carloway has been appointed Lord Justice Clerk in succession to Lord Gill, who earlier this summer became Lord President and Lord Justice General. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Lady Clark of Calton has been appointed as the next Chair of the Scottish Law Commission - the first woman to chair the law reform body. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Lord Gill appointed Lord PresidentHector MacQueen 01 June 2012 12:29 The Lord Justice-Clerk, Lord Gill, will succeed Lord Hamilton as Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice-General when the latter retires at the beginning of June, it was announced on 1 June 2012. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Death of MegrahiHector MacQueen 20 May 2012 20:17 The BBC and other agencies report the death of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in Tripoli on 20 May 2012 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18137896. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Gloag's golf: a past MasterHector MacQueen 10 April 2012 10:47 Scots Law News has never thought that news need be new in the sense of being only about current or very recent events. We are therefore delighted to publish this 1907 information as provided by our golf correspondent Professor David Carey Miller of Aberdeen. Read more...Comments (0) |
| A Christmas treat from ButeHector MacQueen 28 December 2011 11:56 Readers of Scots Law News with Christmas book tokens burning holes in their wallets could do no better than repair to a good bookshop or (if possible) Amazon and get themselves a copy of the autobiography of Sheriff Irvine Smith QC, Law, Life and Laughter: A Personal Verdict, published earlier this year. Read more...Comments (0) |
| A press release from 10 Downing Street on 20 December 2012 confirmed that Lord Reed has been appointed as a Justice of the UK Supreme Court to take the place of the late Lord Rodger of Earlsferry as one of the Scots law judges. At the same time Lord Justice Carnwath of the English Court of Appeal was also appointed to the Court, to succeed Lord Brown when he retires in April 2012. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Tony WeirHector MacQueen 15 December 2011 07:14 Scots Law News has learned with sadness of the death on 13 December 2011 of the distinguished legal academic Tony Weir of Trinity College, Cambridge. Tony was a Scot, born in 1936 and brought up and schooled in Edinburgh. He made a major contribution to English law (especially the law of tort) and to comparative law. Read more...Comments (3) |
| To the sombre magnificence of St Giles in Edinburgh on the cold wet evening of Friday 26 November 2011 for a memorial service in honour of Lord Rodger of Earlsferry; then on to a dinner in the opulent splendour of the Signet Library. Both events attended by a legal galaxy from not only the United Kingdom but also continental Europe. The fine formal tributes at each part of the event moved their hearers in different ways, and left your correspondent with a deeper understanding of the threads of rich friendships running through Alan's multi-faceted career. The Ciceronian line on the cover of the order of service was indeed apt: "non nobis solum nati sumus ortusque nostri partem patria vindicat, partem amici." Read more...Comments (0) |
| The UK Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the validity of the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009 against the challenge to it made by insurance companies. The judgments are very important discussions, not only about the Scottish Parliament's legislative competence but also about its subjection to judicial review. Read more...Comments (0) |
| In Tripoli south of LockerbieHector MacQueen 24 August 2011 08:03 As the Gaddafi regime in Libya was finally toppled in August 2011, so inevitably speculation also began about the implications for Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the convicted Lockerbie bomber, the second anniversary of whose compassionate release from Greenock prison by the Scottish Government came and went as the insurgents reached Tripoli. Read more...Comments (0) |
| As the storm over the phone-hacking methods of the News of the World intensified to the point where the newspaper's owners decided to close it on 7 July 2011, the Crown Office earlier the same day issued the following statement, which it appears most straightforward to give verbatim: Read more...Comments (1) |
| Sad news of the death of Lord Rodger of Earlsferry on 26 June 2011. He had been ill with the effects of a brain tumour since the early spring. Read more...Comments (8) |
| Supreme Court experts announcedHector MacQueen 05 June 2011 22:04 The Scottish Government's Expert Group to consider the jurisdiction of the UK Supreme Court in criminal matters will consist of Lord McCluskey, Sir Gerald Gordon QC, Sheriff Charles Stoddart and Professor Neil Walker. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Following a fevered few days of public debate since the Nat Fraser decision by the UK Supreme Court, the new Scottish Cabinet has announced after its meeting on 31 May 2011 the creation of an expert group to look into the question of the Court's jurisdiction in Scottish criminal cases. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The BBC reports on 31 May 2011 that Anne Muir has been given three years' probation following her earlier conviction for illegal file-sharing. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has issued a press release announcing that Anne Muir (58) has become the first person in Scotland to be convicted for illegally sharing music files online. Read more...Comments (2) |
| Megrahi: a desert story (continued)Hector MacQueen 29 April 2011 16:26 Early February 2011 saw fresh light thrown on the UK Government’s negotiations with Libya in the years before the Scottish Government decided on compassionate grounds to release from Greenock Prison the only man ever convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, Abdelbaset al Megrahi. It became clear that the UK Government had done as much as it could to promote Megrahi’s release; but there was no evidence that the Scottish Government decision had resulted from UK Government pressure. Read more...Comments (0) |
| It's almost two years since Scots Law News signed up to Twitter. Having successfully avoided making any embarrassing tweets, we are now trying out Facebook with a Scots Law News page there too. Read more...Comments (1) |
| Three years for Mr SheridanHector MacQueen 27 January 2011 10:19 Tommy Sheridan, convicted of perjury in December 2010, was on 26 January 2011 sentenced to three years' imprisonment by trial judge Lord Bracadale at the High Court of Justiciary in Glasgow. Read more...Comments (3) |
| A promising startHector MacQueen 20 January 2011 20:15 2011 has made a promising Scots Law News start. Read more...Comments (1) |
| Goodbye 2010, hi to 2011Hector MacQueen 30 December 2010 11:11 Another year over and a new one just begun. War isn't over but Scots Law News hopes that all its readers have some fun in 2011. Read more...Comments (2) |
| Megrahi updateHector MacQueen 29 December 2010 20:39 As 2010 comes to an end, with tales of Mr Megrahi's imminent demise apparently somewhat exaggerated, time for an update on the rush of other stories on the subject that became public during December 2010. Read more...Comments (2) |
| Tommy Sheridan found guilty of perjuryHector MacQueen 23 December 2010 15:53 Tommy Sheridan was found guilty of perjury at the High Court in Glasgow on 23 December 2010. Read more...Comments (1) |
| Bank charges: latest developmentsHector MacQueen 13 December 2010 14:28 The Scottish Legal Aid Board was reported on 10 December 2010 to have refused to fund a test case on the enforceability of bank charges for unauthorised overdrafts under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, sections 140A-140D. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Liability in the snowHector MacQueen 11 December 2010 17:49 While after the resignation of Scottish Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson on 11 December 2010 there can be no doubt of the possible political liabilities flowing from not dealing properly with the consequences of lots of falling snow, there is perhaps some room for discussion of individuals' legal liabilities to those injured by falls of snow from the roofs of their buildings, or by falling on uncleared pavements in front of the buildings. Read more...Comments (7) |
| End of Life Assistance Bill terminatedHector MacQueen 11 December 2010 16:29 After a prolonged debate since its introduction by Margo MacDonald MSP in January 2010, the End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill was rejected by the Scottish Parliament on 1 December 2010. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Scotland BillHector MacQueen 11 December 2010 16:25 The Scotland Bill, implementing (some of) the recommendations of the Calman Report (see previously here), received its first reading in the House of Commons at Westminster on 30 November 2010. Read more...Comments (1) |
| The Naked Rambler got a total of 15 months and 26 days' jail for his latest episodes of nudity after picking up further breach of the peace and contempt convictions in Perth Sheriff Court on 24 November 2010. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Having shoogled the criminal lawyers in Cadder, the Supreme Court shook up the orderly world of conveyancing and repossession from defaulting debtors with its judgment in Royal Bank of Scotland v Wilson [2010] UKSC 50, issued on 24 November 2010. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Cadder as the dust settlesHector MacQueen 11 December 2010 15:44 Quite apart from their specific interest as a major decision shaking the Scottish criminal justice system to its roots, the Supreme Court judgments in Cadder v HMA [2010] UKSC 43 contain numerous points worth attention from a more general point of view. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Judicial appointments: Lord StewartHector MacQueen 11 December 2010 15:39 Angus Stewart QC was elevated to the Court of Session and High Court bench on 5 November 2010, and has taken the judicial title Lord Stewart. His career is summarised here on the Judiciary of Scotland website. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Our thanks to fellow blogger Lallands Peat Worrier who has drawn our attention to the splendid public indecency case decided on 1 November 2010 by the Court of Criminal Appeal, holding that the Eastern Necropolis, Dundee, was not "public" in the sense required for the commission of the offence by the performance of fellatio within the graveyard's bounds. Read more...Comments (1) |
| Scots Law News learns from unimpeachable sources (STV and the Scottish Sun) that Naked Rambler Steve Gough was released from Perth Prison on Friday 29 October 2010 but, being as ever without apparel, he was then rearrested at the prison gates. Read more...Comments (1) |
| The Supreme Court decides CadderHector MacQueen 26 October 2010 12:52 The long and much-anticipated decision of the UK Supreme Court in Cadder v HM Advocate was published on 26 October 2010 ([2010] UKSC 43). As expected, the seven-judge court decides that the human rights of a person detained by the police without immediate access to a lawyer are thereby infringed; but the major hassle that might have occurred were the decision to have been fully retrospective is avoided by holding the judgment not applicable to already closed cases. Read more...Comments (0) |
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| The Legal Services (Scotland) Bill completed its parliamentary passage on 6 October 2010, including the controversial provision that will allow non-lawyer ownership of Scottish law firms to the extent of 49%. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Elish Angiolini moves onHector MacQueen 01 October 2010 19:35 The Lord Advocate, Elish Angiolini QC, announced on 1 October 2010 that she would stand down from her post after the next Scottish Parliament elections, which will be held in May 2011. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Lord Bracadale's opinion in Imperial Tobacco Ltd Petitioners [2010] CSOH 134 (issued on 30 September 2010) upholds the validity of the Scottish Parliament's legislation prohibiting the display of tobacco products at point of sale and the use of vending machines to sell tobacco products. Along the way he makes a number of striking remarks on the correct approach to the review of Acts of the Scottish Parliament. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Sound and fury renewedHector MacQueen 01 October 2010 19:18 As seemed possible at the time of our last post on this subject back in August, the group of US Senators pursuing an inquiry into the Megrahi release sent representatives to Scotland in pursuit of evidence in late September 2010. Whatever light the trip may have cast, there was certainly little sweetness in its immediate aftermath. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The Daily Telegraph and the BBC published on 24 September 2010 leaked UK government lists of public bodies to be abolished or under review in the expected round of huge public expenditure cuts to be made in the autumn, the UK Supreme Court and the English Law Commission being amongst the group still up for review. Read more...Comments (0) |
| A judicial websiteHector MacQueen 01 October 2010 19:16 Change in the Scottish judiciary following the re-establishment of the Scottish Courts Service under the headship of the Lord President was confirmed by the launch of their website on 20 September 2010. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Lord Bingham of CornhillHector MacQueen 01 October 2010 19:13 The death on 11 September 2010 of Lord Bingham of Cornhill, former Senior Law Lord and one of the architects of the still new UK Supreme Court, has been noted elsewhere in Edinburgh Law School's blawgs, but Scots Law News would wish to add a word or two of appreciation of a great judge and a fine man. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The F-word in court: is it a record?Hector MacQueen 01 October 2010 19:11 Lord Woolman may have set a new record for the number of times the F-word has appeared in a civil case judgment in his opinion in McCormack v Hamilton Academical Football Club [2010] CSOH 124, issued on 1 September 2010. Read more...Comments (1) |
| Brian Scott (45) and Ross Blaikie (31) were duly convicted in Jedburgh Sheriff Court on 10 September 2010 of fishing the Liddle Water near Newcastleton without a licence to do so having been previously obtained from the Environment Agency. In the light of the information produced by our earlier post on the subject, this was not a surprising outcome. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Defamation and lawburrowsHector MacQueen 01 October 2010 19:06 Our thanks to Mr James Duff, who has brought to our attention a judgment of Sheriff George Jamieson dated 5 August 2010, sitting in Dumfries, and holding Mr Duff's action of lawburrows against the Chief Constable of Dumfries and Galloway (in which the former represented himself) to be irrelevant when it was based upon claims of defamation made by the pursuer against the defender. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Fishing in troubled watersHector MacQueen 30 August 2010 13:11 Scots Law News is always interested by Anglo-Scottish cross-border issues (see previously here and here), but was especially fascinated by the latest episode concerning fishings on the River Esk, reported by the BBC on 29 August 2010. Read more...Comments (3) |
| The Bible in Scots lawHector MacQueen 22 August 2010 13:37 Only with the greatest hesitancy does Scots Law News enter into the discussion of Lord Mackay of Clashfern's support for the Scottish Bible Society's leaflet on "The Bible in Scots Law" and its statement that the Bible is a "foundational source book for Scotland's legal system". Read more...Comments (4) |
| Some late summer readingHector MacQueen 22 August 2010 12:56 Scots Law News hasn't made a practice of carrying book reviews, and this post isn't intended to start one; but two books that recently crossed your correspondent's desk were sufficiently out of the ordinary run to seem to call for comment. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Sound and fury deferredHector MacQueen 28 July 2010 10:01 The US Senate hearings on the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi from Greenock Prison in August 2009, due to be held on 29 July 2010, have been "postponed" as a result of inability to compel the attendance of any of the witnesses originally called. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Sound and fury in WashingtonHector MacQueen 21 July 2010 06:33 David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, and Barack Obama, the US President, are in "violent agreement" that last year's compassionate release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber by the Scottish Justice Secretary was a mistake. Read more...Comments (3) |
| The prospect of wheelie bins in the World Heritage site of Edinburgh's New Town has reared its ugly head once again, according to a report in The Herald for 16 July 2010. Read more...Comments (0) |
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| The Herald for 15 July 2010 reports a decision by Sheriff Andrew Cubie of Glasgow to remit to the court's ordinary roll a small claims action by a bank customer in respect of what she says were six years' worth of unwarranted charges made by her bank (Santander), on the ground that the legal issues raised were too complex for determination in small claims procedure. Read more...Comments (3) |
| BP's difficulties in the USA following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico have led to a revival of American questions about the release of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, the convicted Lockerbie bomber. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Elevated to the bench in May 2010 as well as receiving a CBE in June for services to the administration of justice as President of the Bars and Law Societies of Europe, Lord Tyre came back to basics in Wallace v City of Glasgow Council [2010] CSOH 88. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Bouncing into the registerScott Wortley 08 July 2010 15:53 On 25th March 2010 at 5 am James Burden was on a trampoline in his garden in Falkirk. He was seen by a female neighbour who was going to the bathroom. She reported to police that he was naked and had Read more...Comments (0) |
| Under section 71 of the Criminal Proceedings etc Reform (Scotland) Act 2007 (as amended) it is provided that a Justice of the Peace can be removed by a Tribunal established by the Lord President of the Court of Session. This tribunal is to be chaired by a sheriff principal, and as well as the sheriff principal is to include among its three member panel a solicitor or advocate with at least 10 years experience, and another person. The tribunal can recommend removal from office under s 71 (6) of the 2007 Act if Read more...Comments (2) |
| The Crofting Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish _Parliament on 1st July 2010. It is an important piece of legislation that will transform aspects of crofting law addressing issues of crofter absenteeism, and neglect and misuse of crofts; the introduction of elections for membership of the Crofting Commission; new rules on common grazings; and new rules on succession of crofts; as well as - controversially - the introduction of a new map based register of crofts. The original model of register introduced at Stage 1 (which appeared to be heavily based on the much criticised Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979) has been tempered by substantial amendments duiring the parliamentary process. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The Lord Lyon, David Sellar, has been busy of late, issuing guidance notes on the use of the derbhfine or "family conventions" in determining clan chiefdoms and on baronial additaments and territorial designations in the grant of arms, as well as rejecting a petition to be allowed to use the designation "feudal earl". Read more...Comments (1) |
| Stair on FacebookHector MacQueen 04 July 2010 18:01 Scots Law News has discovered that the Stair Society was preceded onto Facebook by its late eponym, James Dalrymple Viscount Stair, the "Father of Modern Scots Law", who has had his own page since early November 2009. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Passing off Nessie?Hector MacQueen 04 July 2010 17:12 A dispute between two rival Nessie exhibition centres based in Drumnadrochit entered the doors of Inverness Sheriff Court on 29 June 2010 but was resolved by agreement rather than judgment the following day. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The First Division of the Court of Session tackled the tricky issue of connected lender liability under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 in Durkin v DSG Retail Ltd and HFC Bank Ltd [2010] CSIH 49 and decided that under the section a consumer buyer’s rescission of a contract of sale of goods (a laptop computer) did not have the effect of also rescinding the connected loan contract by means of which the price was paid to the seller. Read more...Comments (1) |
| As forecast here at the beginning of the year, the implications for Scots law of the European Court of Human Rights decision in Salduz v Turkey (Application No. 36391/02, 27 November 2008) that the presence of a lawyer at police interviews of criminal suspects is essential to avoid infringement of Article 6 ECHR (fair trial), came before the UK Supreme Court at the end of May 2010; and even before the case (Cadder v HMA) was officially decided (the due date is 20 October), the Crown Office instructed change in police interviewing practices. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Tesco law: where are we now?Hector MacQueen 04 July 2010 13:33 Since our last posting on this vexed topic, there has been a further confusing whirl of extraordinary general meetings, referendums, votes and searches for compromise in the solicitors’ profession, but the real action now lies in the debates in the Scottish Parliament. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The Herald for 15 June 2010 carried a story that none of the Crown Office, the Foreign Office, the police and Abdelbaset al Megrahi have (as yet) consented to the public release of the documents that led the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission to refer the last-named's conviction back to the Appeal Court in 2007. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Elspeth Reid has kindly drawn our attention to the Dundee Sheriff Court case of Esposito v Barile, a judgement issued on 8 June 2010, in which Sheriff George Way dipped into the characterisation of Scottish legal history as well as the application of the law of unjustified enrichment between former cohabitants. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010 came into force on 7 June 2010. While generally welcomed in the legal media, a modicum of controversy was sparked by a dissenting voice from within Edinburgh law firm Tods Murray. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The Senators of the College of Justice took a week out of court business at the beginning of June 2010 to undergo their first training week under the auspices of the Judicial Studies Committee. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Our thanks to correspondent Martin Hogg for drawing our attention to the successful appeal of a naked hiker in Switzerland, over-turning a criminal conviction for indecent behaviour in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden on 28 May 2010. Read more...Comments (0) |
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| The Scottish government has recently consulted on reforms recommended by the Scottish Law Commission. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Megrahi breaks the recordHector MacQueen 15 June 2010 09:54 On 19 May 2010 Abdelbaset al-Megrahi became the longest survivor of any of the Scottish prisoners granted compassionate release on the grounds of their terminal illness. Read more...Comments (0) |
| To two lectures on 18 and 20 May 2010, by Professor Joe Thomson and Lord Rodger of Earlsferry respectively, and coincidentally both were talking about research in law. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The Supreme Court got some relief from its customary diet of human rights with its first real case on a Scots private law topic, Inveresk plc v Tullis Russell Papermakers Ltd [2010] UKSC 19, issued on 5 May 2010. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Stair Society joins FacebookHector MacQueen 01 June 2010 07:42 The Stair Society, Scotland's premier legal history society since its foundation in 1934, has set up a page on Facebook, the world's largest social networking site. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Bill StewartHector MacQueen 29 May 2010 05:21 We at Scots Law News were deeply saddened to learn of the death on 24 May 2010 of Bill Stewart of Stirling Law School. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Sheriff J V Paterson (1928-2010)Hector MacQueen 22 May 2010 06:47 Borders correspondent William Windram has drawn our attention to the death on 7 May 2010 of one of the early stars of Scots Law News, Sheriff James Paterson, who sat in the sheriff courts of the Borders area for 37 years altogether, between 1963 and his retirement in 2000. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Nicking the spoils of election?Hector MacQueen 20 May 2010 19:20 The UK General Election on 6 May 2010 led ultimately to the formation of an unlikely Tory/Lib-Dem coalition government, a still almost Tory-free Scotland, a Lib Dem Secretary of State for Scotland, and the return to the political front line (as Advocate General for Scotland) of Jim Wallace, last heard of going back to practice in Parliament House. Read more...Comments (0) |
| A rewarding caseHector MacQueen 13 May 2010 22:10 The seven-week trial of the five men charged with conspiring to extort £4.25 million for the safe return of a stolen Leonardo painting to its owner, the Duke of Buccleuch, ended on 21 April 2010 with verdicts of not proven in respect of three of the accused and not guilty for the other two (both Scottish solicitors). Read more...Comments (0) |
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| Justice was done once again in Perth Sheriff Court as a sheriff first banned an engaged couple from talking with each other prior to their marriage, then lifted the ban to allow them to make plans, not only for their nuptials, but also for the fiancee's upcoming 50th birthday. Read more...Comments (1) |
| By popular request, Scots Law News is pleased to draw attention to the opening passages of Lord Rodger's recent judgment in the Supreme Court case Guardian News and Media Ltd's Application [2010] UKSC 1: Read more...Comments (0) |
| Love over Parliament HouseHector MacQueen 28 March 2010 22:24 Prolific author and medical law professor Alexander McCall Smith was called to the Scots Bar on 26 March 2010. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Scots Law News has followed the gathering storm about alternative business structures (aka Tesco law) within the solicitors’ branch of the Scottish profession without quite seeing how it would all turn out; and its mystification was deepened by competing accounts of the Special General Meeting about the matter held but not completed by the Law Society of Scotland on 25 March 2010. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Scots Law News paid its first visit to the new UK Supreme Court on 15 March 2010 and, while duly impressed by the splendid renovation of the former Middlesex Guildhall without and within, was most appreciative of the public cafeteria, which may well offer the best value-for-money light lunch in London. Read more...Comments (0) |
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| The decision in Kelly v HMA [2010] HCJAC 20 is not of itself of much import, but there are interesting comments from the Court of Criminal Appeal on the process whereby individuals are applying ot the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, having previously failed to meet statutory time limits for appeals, or to apply for extensions to those limits. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Criminal law in the Supreme CourtScott Wortley 26 February 2010 11:39 The judgments in the first two Scottish criminal cases decided by the Supreme Court were delivered in February. Read more...Comments (0) |
| The 2009 annual report of the Scottish Law Commission was published earlier this month. In the foreword to the last annual report SLC chairman, Lord Drummond Young, had raised concerns about the failure to implement SLC reports. He notes in his foreword this year a number of very positive developments within the devolved government and parliament including meetings with the Justice Secretary and minister for Parliamentary business, a meeting with the convener of the Justice Committee. Read more...Comments (0) |
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| In early February JUSTICE, the all party law reform organisation, published a report on "Devolution and Human Rights". The report considers political aspirations (particularly from the COnservative party) to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998, replacing the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights with what some refer to as a homegrown Bill of Rights. Such suggestions excite newspapers - primarily tabloids who give their standard Pavlovian responses (usually involving assertions about burglars having too many rights, while complaining about householders not being able to kill them (or at the very least violently assault them) without some form of legal consequence). Read more...Comments (0) |
| The Scottish Government published a consultation paper on its proposed Referendum (Scotland) Bill on 25 February 2010. Under the Bill, the Scottish people will be asked to vote on whether Scotland should become an independent nation or if the Scottish Parliament should have wider powers than at present. Read more...Comments (0) |
| Grays Timber Products v HMRC [2010] UKSC 4 - a tax case - was the first Scottish decision in the Supreme Court with speeches issued in early February from a bench comprising Lord Hope, Lord Rodger, Lord Walker, Lord Brown, and Lord Kerr. As with other Supreme Court decisions the decision was accompanied by a very helpful press release summarising the facts, and the reasons for the decision. Read more...Comments (0) |
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| J J (Hamish) Gow 1918-23 February 2009Hector MacQueen 25 February 2010 10:36 Ross Macdonald of Dundee Law School has alerted Scots Law News to an announcement of the death a year ago of J J Gow, one of the leading figures of the post-war Scottish legal renaissance. Read more...Comments (1) |
| Delineating catchment areasScott Wortley 25 February 2010 10:36 In mid January Lord Uist decided Bowie v East Renfrewshire Council [2010] CSOH 6 on the delimitation of the catchment area boundaries for admission to St Ninian's High School in Giffnock. Read more...Comments (0) |
