Recent Articles

Petition PE1197

Iain Nisbet
November 20, 2008 23:50

Petition by Bill Alexander calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to reform the legal system to adopt the Scandinavian system of allowing unrestricted access to legal representation before the court for example by allowing non-lawyers to appear in court on behalf of...

Stunning Pensioner

Iain Nisbet
November 03, 2008 23:14

The Best Stun Gun blog (no, really) reports that a man has been fined in Edinburgh Sheriff Court for importing an illegal stun gun. South African Vernon White (73), by all accounts was visiting some friends in the Veldt. They decided that returning to Leith would be too risky for him without...

Sturgeon "not persuaded" on euthanasia

Iain Nisbet
November 03, 2008 23:06

Nicola Sturgeon MSP, the Health Secretary, has been reported as saying she was "not persuaded" that assisted suicide should be made legal, after independent MSP Margo MacDonald said she hoped to bring legislation on the subject before Holyrood next year. Ms. Sturgeon (with whom I once...

Rape law concerns

Iain Nisbet
October 29, 2008 23:29

Campaign groups have expressed concern over the "limitations" of new legislation which aims to strengthen the law on rape. The groups, including Rape Crisis Scotland, Scottish Women's Aid and Victim Support Scotland, presented their worries about the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill to...

What do Judges actually do?

Iain Nisbet
October 29, 2008 00:15

"You are to know, says he, that the Judges do not sit in court to do Business above three Hours in the day, that is from Eight in the Morning to Eleven. After they have taken some Refreshment, the Method is, to spend the rest of the Day in the Study of the Law, reading of the Holy...

High Court in Club vs. Country row

Iain Nisbet
October 27, 2008 22:46

The Welsh Rugby Union claimed a major legal victory on Friday in the ongoing dispute with the country's professional clubs over player release for international games. The four professional regional teams - Cardiff Blues, Ospreys, Newport Gwent Dragons and Scarlets - said players would not be...

Helow again

Iain Nisbet
October 23, 2008 01:21

The House of Lords has ruled, in the case of Helow v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, that the fair-mided and informed observer would not have considered there was a real possibility of bias in Lady Cosgrove's hearing of an asylum case involving a member of the Palestinian Liberation...

Aberdeen City set for further legal challenge over disability cuts

Iain Nisbet
October 21, 2008 23:49

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is to consider whether to use its statutory powers to bring a legal challenge against Aberdeen City Council on whether their recent budget cuts have been "equality impact assessed" as required by law. The council cutbacks caused controversy in...

Scots lawyers in Gaza

Iain Nisbet
October 20, 2008 21:56

According to the International Middle East Media Centre, a group of international legal personalities from Ireland and Scotland visited eastern parts of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, mainly in the southern Khan Younis city, observing the damage caused by continuous Israeli army actions in such a...

And stay out!

Iain Nisbet
October 09, 2008 01:17

As reported in many different places in the Scottish media, a man accused of robbing a Post Office has been banned from Scotland. The man in question lives in England (only just) and has been charged with assault and robbery. He appeared at Selkirk Sheriff Court and was granted bail with the...