Scotland

The UK has lifted a 336-year-old ban on Catholics serving as the King's representative at the Church of Scotland's annual general assembly. The unanimous decision by MPs means Lady Elish Angiolini KC will become the first Roman Catholic lord high commissioner to the Church of Scotland since the Clai

Defence solicitors in Scotland have begun their first week of industrial action over domestic abuse cases after a collapse in talks with the Scottish government over reforms to legal aid. They will also decline to act where an accused has no solicitor and cannot represent themselves — and will

Controversial Scottish plans to introduce juryless trials have been condemned by the Scottish, English, Irish and Northern Ireland bars. Following a meeting of the four bars in Belfast recently, their leadership issued a joint statement on the proposed removal of juries for rape and other serious se

Scottish solicitors are abandoning talks on reforms to legal aid, having "lost confidence" in the Scottish Government after progress stalled for two years. The Law Society of Scotland said it would no longer participate in discussions on the creation of a review mechanism for legal aid fees, Scottis

A Scottish judge who played a pioneering role in establishing a dedicated drug court in Glasgow and later lent his expertise to the Northern Ireland courts service has passed away. Sheriff Lindsay Wood, who visited the Belfast Substance Misuse Court with two other sheriffs in 2021, died following a

Scottish defence lawyers are preparing to boycott a controversial pilot scheme for juryless rape trials. The plans, which have been advanced for a number of years, would see juries removed from rape and sexual offence trials on the basis that the conviction rate for such crimes is artificially low.

Scotland's Court of Session has ruled that the UK government acted lawfully in vetoing the Scottish Parliament’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill from receiving lawful assent, after a legal challenge to the block was brought by the Scottish Ministers. It was argued for the petitioners that the p

Glasgow University has introduced the world's first master's degree in reparatory justice. The degree has been established in partnership with the University of the West Indies (UWI) and comes amid a global campaign for financial reparations stemming from the transatlantic slave trade, Scottish Lega

An Edinburgh doctor who was given an interim suspension by the General Medical Council after being detained regarding allegations of terrorist activity in Northern Ireland has had his suspension extended following a successful petition by the GMC to the Outer House of the Court of Session. The respo

Sir Iain Livingstone, Police Scotland's chief constable, has admitted that the single force is institutionally racist and discriminatory. The revelation follows a review that revealed instances of racism, sexism, and homophobia by active officers. Reports of staff facing repercussions for flagging t

Controversial plans in Scotland to allow for trials without juries in rape cases have come in for criticism. The Scottish government has introduced a bill that would enable what it calls judge-only trials.

The Scottish government will challenge the Secretary of State for Scotland’s use of Section 35 of the Scotland Act to stop the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill going forward to Royal Assent following the Scottish Parliament’s approval of the legislation in December 2022. Social

Three former lawyers and two other men who masterminded a £1.48 million bank and property money-laundering operation in Scotland have been jailed for a total of 30 years and four months. Solicitors Iain Robertson, Alastair Blackwood and David Lyons along with Mohammed Aziz and Robert Ferguson,

The Scottish Parliament has passed legislation aiming to improve the system by which transgender people can apply for legal recognition through a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). Once enacted, Scotland will be the first part of the UK to have a gender recognition process based on self-declarati

A Libyan man who is accused of making the bomb which destroyed Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988 is in US custody. Abu Agila Masud was charged by US authorities two years ago. They allege that he played a key role in the terrorist attack which killed 270 people.