scots law

Misuse of Drugs Act Section 23 – What are reasonable grounds to suspect?

October 30, 2015

The admissibility of evidence arising from police searches of vehicles under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 has become fertile ground for legal argument in recent years. The argument which found prominence in McAughey v HM Advocate [2013] HCJAC 163; 2014 SCCR 11 has resulted in a relative flood of cases centring upon the state of mind of […]

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Wicked and Reckless: Why Oscar Pistorious Would have been Convicted of Murder if Tried in Scotland

September 15, 2014

On Thursday 11 September 2014 Judge Thokozile Masipa determined that Oscar Pistorius was not guilty of premeditated murder. It was then up to the judge to decide between “dollus eventualis” (common murder), culpable homicide or acquittal – but how? (And update at 21 October 2014: Pistorius given five years in jail and three-year suspended sentence […]

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Corroboration’s Fate

February 5, 2013

Scottish legal dissertation regarding the fate of corroboration under Scots Law. If you’d like your law dissertation published, contact us here. Corroboration in Scots law is a rule which remains a fundamental element in the conviction of a charge[ref] Fiona Raitt, Evidence: Principles, Policy and Practice (4th revised edn, W Green 2008) 8-01.[/ref]. Conversely, following […]

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The Facts Speak For Themselves; Utilis

November 23, 2012

Guest Scots Law Blog post by Graham Kerr LLB (Hons) Dip LP, owner of Legal Media Solutions in Scotland and a founder of How to Moot. You can follow Graham on Twitter @gster84. I remember sitting in a lecture for Delict, many moons ago and learning about the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. Pretty much […]

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‘The Challenges Facing Prospective Trainees in an Uncertain Economic Climate’: A Personal Perspective by Christopher Agnew

May 10, 2012

We are pleased to welcome Glasgow University law graduate, Christopher Agnew, as he pens this incisive guest blog post regarding some of the challenges facing prospective trainee solicitors in Scotland in the current uncertain economic climate. Entering into a life in law, as I did in 2005, I would expect that my peers would have […]

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Who then in law is my neighbour? Donoghue v Stevenson: The Paisley Snail Case

September 28, 2011

80 years on, Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 remains one of the world’s most famous delict/tort cases. To celebrate the 80th anniversary of Lord Atkin’s judgment, there is to be an international conference on May 25 & 26, 2012. This should generate wide interest and indeed attendance from around the legal world. The conference […]

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Ancient Scots Law lands a Catch-22

September 19, 2011

A 156-year old Scottish statute, the Burial Grounds (Scotland) Act 1855, has recently been used to block campaigners’ attempts to discover if British soldiers were buried in a secret mass grave, as the Sunday Express reports following Freedom of Information requests. Led by author John Steele and former Glasgow University organisation “Guard Archaeology”, the campaigners […]

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Shereen Nanjiani interviews Richard Keen QC, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates

August 2, 2011

Quite a lot of the legal content and information that ScotsLawBlog shares can be found on the microblogging / microblawging social media network Twitter. But every now and then there is a post to be shared which merits more than just a retweet. This is one such post:- Scottish journalist Shereen Nanjiani’s blog recently featured […]

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Margaret Aitken v Scottish Ambulance Service and Greater Glasgow Health Board [2011] CSOH 49

March 14, 2011

Margaret Aitken v Scottish Ambulance Service and Greater Glasgow Health Board [2011] CSOH 49 Margaret Aitken, a mother whose teenage daughter died through an epileptic seizure, has succeeded in her first legal hurdle to suing the Scottish Ambulance Service and Greater Glasgow Health Board for damages following their alleged negligence. Facts The daughter of Ms […]

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867 criminal cases not able to proceed because of Cadder

February 9, 2011

As reported by the Journal Online on Wednesday 9 February 2011, a total of 867 prosecutions have not be able to proceed as a direct result of the Cadder v HMA ruling last year, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has announced.

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