Category Archives: Scottish Parliament

Holyrood 2016 – Manifestos on civil justice

Just time before the election for a quick review of the parties’ views on various topics related to civil justice – based on my own skim reading of the manifestos. First, some areas of agreement.  Both Labour and SNP are … Continue reading

Posted in Child Law, Defamation, Employment Law, News, Politics, Scottish Parliament | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

National Priorities in Education – what does the law say?

On Monday, I was fortunate to be in the audience while the First Minister gave a speech on education.  In that speech, she set out “twin priorities of improving attainment for all children and tackling the attainment gap between children … Continue reading

Posted in Education Law, Gàidhlig, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Devolution in the UK

I have just sent off my submission to the Commons Select Committee on Political and Constitutional Reform in response to their inquiry on the future of devolution in the United Kingdom, in the light of the referendum result. The Committee’s … Continue reading

Posted in Constitutional Law, Politics, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament, Supreme Court | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Begone bastard!

Michael McMahon MSP has launched a consultation on his proposed Reform of Criminal Verdicts (Scotland) Bill which proposes abolishing the peculiarly Scottish “not proven” verdict in criminal trials – famously described by Sir Walter Scott as “that bastard verdict”.  It also … Continue reading

Posted in Criminal Law, News, Scottish Parliament | Tagged | 2 Comments

Strictly Come Legislating

New laws giving Scotland’s police and prosecutors the additional tools they have asked for to extract ‘poisonous comments of hatred’ from Scottish ballroom and threats of harm being posted on the internet have been passed by the Scottish Parliament today. … Continue reading

Posted in Criminal Law, Just for Fun, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Supreme Court rejects AXA appeal

The Supreme Court has handed down its judgement in the case of AXA Insurance v. Lord Advocate, in which insurance giants and bad losers AXA sought to strike down the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009 on the basis that … Continue reading

Posted in Human Rights, News, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament, Supreme Court | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

You are the (Sher)Ref

So, I was reading through the draft Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill, which seems to be really broad in its attempts to crack down on sectarianism.  I tried to think back to my legislation honours classes … Continue reading

Posted in Criminal Law, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament | Tagged , | 15 Comments

Manifestos on civil justice etc.

As you will no doubt be aware, the campaign for the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary election is now underway.  As far as I can see, not all of the manifestos have been launched yet, but I thought I start with those … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom of Information, Legal Aid, Politics, Privacy, Scottish Parliament | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Scot of the Antarctic (Part 2)

So, I received a nice letter from the Scotland Office, in response to the question posed by visitor to this site, Tim Macdonald.  His question was: Why is this necessary given section 29(2)(a) of the Scotland Act 1998? That is, … Continue reading

Posted in Constitutional Law, Scottish Parliament | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Scot of the Antarctic

There has been much commentary this week on the new Scotland Bill.  Many have concentrated on the new tax raising arrangements and new legislative competences proposed for the Scottish Parliament.  But it’s not all one way traffic… I wish to … Continue reading

Posted in Just for Fun, Scottish Parliament | Tagged , | 11 Comments