Latest News From Complete Clarity Solicitors

The Scottish Government’s Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill has recently been scrutinised by members of the Parliament’s Justice Committee, who have now published a report questioning some of the key provisions of the Bill.

Human rights organisation Liberty has announced that it has been granted permission to bring a Judicial Review of the Government’s controversial “bedroom tax”, based on the policy’s impact on separated families with shared custody of children.

The Scottish Government’s Housing (Scotland) Bill has recently been through its Stage 1 debate at the Scottish Parliament.

A proposed Directive that will help individuals and companies claim damages if they are victims of infringements of EU antitrust rules, such as cartels and abuses of dominant market positions, has recently received the backing of the European Parliament.

The Court of Session has recently ruled against plans by the Gyle Shopping Centre in Edinburgh to build a Primark Store partly on an existing car park, because Marks & Spencer (M & S), one of the centre’s tenants, has a share in rights to the car park. It is merely the first stage in a legal battle over the proposals.

Proposed measures to assist local authorities in recouping the costs they incur in making defective or dangerous buildings safe have been welcomed by the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Regeneration Committee.

Plans to give consumers greater access to redress if something goes wrong with their purchase of goods or services are the subject of a recently launched Government consultation.

Resolving disputes between neighbours over the size of garden hedges should become a bit easier after a new Act comes into effect in April this year.

In a recent development that will be of interest to anyone contemplating taking a legal dispute to one of Scotland’s civil courts, the Scottish Government has published further details of new legislation that it says will bring about the biggest modernisation of Scotland’s courts in a generation.

The Supreme Court has recently given its ruling in a contractual dispute involving the lease to a grouse moor.

The Government’s draft Consumer Rights Bill has the potential to consolidate, simplify and modernise consumer law, but this depends on resolving issues and inconsistencies in the draft, according to a recent report from Parliament's Business, Innovation and Skills Committee.

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) recently appeared in front of the Scottish Parliament’s Infrastructure and Capital Investment (ICI) Committee, to give oral evidence on the Housing (Scotland) Bill.

Mediation, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution, often offer a better solution to commercial disputes than going to court – so it is good to see that the new International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Rules of Mediation are now in force.

New measures to strengthen the position of consumers and businesses in low-value cross-border disputes have been proposed by the European Commission.

The introduction of legislation to make Scotland’s devolved tribunals simpler and more flexible has moved a step closer with the Stage 1 passing of the Bill in the Scottish Parliament.

An interesting estate dispute from India appears to have reached closure, according to a report from the Telegraph. This reveals that a battle over the estate of one of India’s most wealthy royal families has finally been settled.

Recently published research into the impact of the ‘bedroom tax’ in Scotland has found that, despite the financial pressures applied by the tax, Scottish social housing tenants are proving to be resistant to the idea of downsizing their homes.

The Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee has published its stage 1 report into the Tribunals (Scotland) Bill, in which it welcomes the proposals contained in the Bill and sets out a number of recommendations.

The latest step in the reform of the Scottish civil justice system took place this week with the official launch of the Scottish Civil Justice Council (SCJC), at Parliament Hall in Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government has published details of responses received to the consultation it ran between February and May of this year entitled 'Making Justice Work: Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill'.