Law

Internet users could be forced to provide their age on every single website under new rules proposed to protect children online.

A number of significant policy and regulatory changes which govern the way we manage waste across the UK are on the horizon. One of the key measures to be implemented by the Scottish Government is a landfill ban covering all biodegradable municipal waste (BMW). The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 inserted a provision in the Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003 prohibiting the acceptance of BMW at landfills from 1 January 2021.

As employment tribunal claim numbers rise across the UK, we look at the biggest issue on the topic of age discrimination facing the courts (not to mention public sector employers and their employees) in 2019.

Since 1983, World Consumer Rights Day has been used as a means of raising global awareness. These days we seem increasingly to be asked to sign lengthy contracts for goods and services which outline our rights and protections as ­consumers. But let’s be honest – when you signed that ­contract with your latest mobile phone provider, or for that new washing machine, did you actually bother to read the small print?

The recent high ­profile ­sexual harassment ­cases in the media, and the growing momentum of the #MeToo ­movement, has prompted closer examination of how businesses are responding to such incidents in the workplace.

The recent case involving McDonalds, where the EU Intellectual Property Office revoked the company’s EU trade mark for “BIG MAC” owing to McDonalds’ failure to show genuine use, raises some interesting questions. It has also led food and drinks businesses to query what practical steps they can take to protect their most important commodity: their brand. As is so often the case, the answer lies in ensuring a company’s valuable intellectual property rights are properly protected.

The UK is set to leave the European Union on 29 March. If MPs accept the proposed withdrawal agreement, we will enter a transition period where most EU law will still apply in the UK and there will be further discussions about our future relationship. However, there is a chance we might leave the EU without a deal and should consider what this means for UK businesses.

Fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated in how they initiate and execute cyber-crime – estimated to cost the UK £27 billion every year – and businesses which fall victim must act quickly to give themselves the best chance of recovering monies.

Among the proposals in the latest Scottish Budget are increases in the rates of land and buildings transaction tax (LBTT) for commercial properties, and a rate hike for the additional dwellings supplement (ADS) for purchases of additional residences in Scotland, eg a second home or a buy-to-let property.

Every year, ­without fail, December seems to be an exceptionally busy month.

Brexit is fraught with uncertainty – but there is now one thing we know without doubt. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has confirmed the UK is legally entitled to unilaterally revoke its Article 50 notice. In practical terms, this means that if the withdrawal agreement is not acceptable to Parliament, and ‘no deal’ is equally unacceptable, there is another path.

This year marks ten years since our Moving On project opened. It was launched in a bid to stop the revolving door of young men leaving ­prison, reoffending and quickly finding themselves back behind bars.

Christmas is often an ­unintended bearer of stress. It’s that time of year when otherwise innocuous factors can ­collide and accumulate to ­create a ­situation which many of us find ­difficult to endure.

Real estate transaction volumes suggest that 2018 will be one of the decade’s strongest in terms of overall levels of investment in Scottish commercial property.

The last year might best be characterised as 12 months of solid progress for the legal profession in Scotland. Growth has been steady following a fairly flat 2017 – and Brexit, perhaps surprisingly, has not had the direct impact on business that we might have expected this time last year.

Some of the biggest changes in employment law in the last couple of years have been a response to the shifting nature of the modern workforce, while other high profile areas involve decades-old legislation being applied more frequently.

Despite the absence of blockbuster deals, the Scottish mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market has been busy and at times buoyant in 2018 – fuelled by a strong performance in specific sectors and by foreign investment attracted by a weak pound.

In the cafes, restaurants and meeting-rooms of Rome at the annual conference of the International Bar Association (IBA) last month, the conversation kept returning to one main topic.

Despite the Scottish Government’s announcement of increased investment into the sector, the political and economic uncertainties on the horizon have left Scotland’s legal infrastructure experts with mixed views.