31.01.05 Fair cop for specials

Special Constables are to be paid £1,000 a year under new scheme

31.01.05 Completed criminal appeals down

Concluded criminal appeals have fallen to the lowest figure in a decade

31.01.05 Call for extra help for victims' families

Families of murder victims should receive expenses to attend courts, says a new report

31.01.05 New HR director for D&W

Dundas & Wilson has recruited a new director of human resources from the US

28.01.05 Probe sheriff resigns

Sheriff Hugh Neilson has resigned from office

28.01.05 Big rise in domestic abuse

Shocking new figures show the number of cases of domestic abuse reported to police has soared 10%

28.01.05 Detective faces jail

A murder-squad detective is facing a long jail sentence for causing the death of a driver in a head-on crash

27.01.05 Trouble brewing over trespass law

Opposition grows to Sewel motion allowing Westminster to legislate for restricted areas

27.01.05 More fiscal service appointments

Moves in Lanarkshire and Ayrshire as Jim Brisbane heads for Crown Office

27.01.05 New sheriff for Hamilton

Glasgow solicitor Vincent Smith appointed to vacant post

26.01.05 New Area Fiscal for Lothian

Deputy Crown Agent appointed to Lothian and Borders

26.01.05 North East law practice sold

Aberdeen firm Cooper & Hay has been acquired by one of its neighbours

26.01.05 Reliance guard missed suicide risk

Inquiry hears that Reliance security staff failed to put at risk prisoner on suicide watch

26.01.05 Electronic tagging soars

The number of offenders tagged electronically rose by 54% last year

25.01.05 Cybersex man jailed

A man who admitted having "cybersex" has been jailed for two years

25.01.05 Marching orders for parades

Executive has adopted nearly 40 new measures to regulate Scotland's marching culture

24.01.05 New Parole Board members

Three lawyers among eight new members of Parole Board

24.01.05 Journal and website commended in awards

Certificates of excellence for Journal and website at Scottish Corporate Communications Awards

24.01.05 MacRoberts underpins key SE listing

MacRoberts plays major role in £1 billion British Energy relisting

24.01.05 Prison hotspots revealed

Report shows half Scotland's prison population comes from 155 council wards

21.01.05 Rehabilitation spending fails, says watchdog

Audit Scotland says no evidence that £30 million spend prevents reoffending

21.01.05 "Accused teachers should be anonymous"

Children's Commissioner believes youngsters now "too hot to handle" with affection

20.01.05 Society hits complaints target

New system achieves benchmark of 90% completion within nine months

20.01.05 "Forced marriage" wives urged to speak out

Campaign launched to overcome cultural taboo to seeking help

20.01.05 Further housing success for Harper Macleod

Firm announces two more local authority contracts

19.01.05 More guidance on child witnesses

Further Scottish Executive guidelines on dealing with children and other vulnerable witnesses

19.01.05 Inquiry call to Lord Advocate

Lawyer threatens Lord Advocate with legal action over hepatitis C patients

19.01.05 New Pagan Osborne appointment

Matthew Gray joins Pagan Osborne as Group Property Sales Director

18.01.05 Latest "temporary sheriffs" challenge fails

Full bench upholds Crown plea that accused barred by acquiescence

18.01.05 Slopping out appeal

Appeal against slopping out compensation to begin

17.01.05 Commission takes an interest in money claims

Scottish Law Commission calls for views on running of interest

17.01.05 Watchdog turns down house price complaint

Advertising Standards Authority refuses to act on "offers-over" house prices

17.01.05 Another terror suspect defence lawyer quits

Second special advocate resigns over terrorist suspect detention system

17.01.05 Urquhart makes "Hot 100"

Morton Fraser chief Linda Urquhart is only Scot in Lawyer magazine's top list

17.01.05 Tods' turnover up

"Second record year in a row" sees turnover up 10 per cent at Tods Murray

14.01.05 Polygraph tests do lie

High error rate with both guilty and innocent, warns new report

14.01.05 Police cells "very bleak"

New report highlights poor treatment of prisoners in legalised police cells

13.01.05 VIA service now nationwide

Victim Information and Advice national rollout completed on schedule

13.01.05 Landmark ruling for compulsive eater

Council wins battle to act as legal guardian for woman with rare eating disorder

13.01.05 Sledgehammer attack on law firm

Man who attacked lawyer's office with a sledgehammer spared jail

12.01.05 Patterson joins Building Standards Committee

Leading construction lawyer one of nine new appointees

12.01.05 Drunk fails in criminal compensation claim

Appeal court upholds refusal of claim by drunk, disabled when pushed away by taxi passenger

12.01.05 Soaring cost of retail crime

Retail crime costs revealed in a new survey

11.01.05 Widow's £10,000 award for son's death

Elderly widowed mother awarded £10,000 after son dies of mesothelioma

11.01.05 Fall in drink drivers

New figures show drop in number of festive drink drivers

10.01.05 Tagging contract extended

Executive extends electronic monitoring contract with Reliance

10.01.05 Student to take legal action over fees

A student is taking legal action against executive in a bid to end higher fees for English

10.01.05 Child protection law comes in

Legislation to protect children comes into force today

10.01.05 New man at helm of HBJ

Corporate law firm Henderson Boyd Jackson appoints outsider and non-lawyer as chief executive

07.01.05 Important new guidelines

Society's Council has approved new practice guidelines on gazumping, gazundering and closing dates

07.01.05 FSA rulebook changes

Financial Services Authority has amended its rulebooks to clarify the duty of an authorised professional firm to comply with the rules of the FSA and/or its designated professional body

07.01.05 Trainee assignations discouraged

Reminder that only in exceptional circumstances does the Society permit assignation of a training contract

07.01.05 New PFI expert for Harper Macleod

Dr Norman Oliver has joined Harper Macleod

06.01.05 Fire at Fort William court

Deliberately started fire closes sheriff court for the day

06.01.05 Bid to stop capital's road tolls

Neighbouring councils challenge fairness of congestion charging scheme

05.01.05 "Right to buy" under scrutiny

Executive to review social housing sector tenants' right to buy their homes

05.01.05 Call to ban begging

Glasgow Council leader calls for change in law on begging

05.01.05 Victim service extended to Angus

Victim Information and Advice service now available in Arbroath and Forfar procurator fiscal offices

04.01.05 National institutions fear charity change

National library, museums, art galleries face big revenue loss through Charities Bill

03.01.05 Parliament criticised for private sessions

Excluding public from committee business said to run against open government

03.01.05 Police plan to delegate minor callouts

ACPOS report recommends officers be freed from responding to car crashes and neighbour disputes