HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland publishes COPFS inspection
The Scottish prosecution service is being urged to be more transparent about its handling of criminal allegations against the police. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is also being asked to review its approach to involving and communicating with those who make criminal complaints against the police, and to address a lack of written policy and guidance. The inspection is the first of its kind since COPFS established a national unit – the Criminal Allegations Against the Police Division (CAAP-D) – for the handling of on-duty criminal allegations against the police. Inspectors reviewed 80 cases; 65 led to a decision not to prosecute and 15 the opposite. “In the cases we reviewed, there appeared to be no consideration by either the reporting agency or CAAP-D of whether race (or any other protected characteristic) was a factor in the incident complained about", the report said. “The Crown appears to treat all cases the same, regardless of the race of the complainer or subject officer. While some might consider this to be a fair or ‘colour-blind’ approach, it risks failing to notice when race may actually be a factor in an incident". Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain QC welcomed the report, adding: “The Crown is committed to the fair and effective investigation of reports of criminal allegations against the police and to making decision on prosecutions in a timely manner...COPFS will carefully consider all the recommendations in the report and makes changes, where appropriate, to implement them".
The National  

Society looks to fill committee vacancies
The Law Society of Scotland is inviting applications for vacant places on its regulatory and policy committees. Conveners are sought for the Complaints & Oversight, Rights of Audience and Insurance Committees (the last reserved to a solicitor Council member). The Regulatory Committee, which oversees all the Society's regulatory work, seeks a lay member, while there are vacancies on six of its subcommittees including those dealing with client protection and professional conduct. Further vacancies have arisen on three committees covering sectors or areas of practice (Legal Aid, Property Law, and Senior Solicitor Advocate Accreditation), and on 16 different policy committees from Access to Justice through to Trusts & Succession. The closing date is 12 noon on September 20th.
The Journal of the Law Society of Scotland  

Twelve new Queen's Counsel appointed
Twelve new Queen’s Counsel – 11 advocates and one solicitor advocate – have been appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. The new appointees are advocates Jennifer Bain, Duncan Hamilton, Graeme Hawkes, Robert Hayhow, Archibald MacSporran, Kirsty Malcolm, David McNaughtan, Graeme Middleton, Mark Moir, Catherine Smith, and Laura-Anne Van Der Westhuizen. They are joined by Paul Kearney, solicitor advocate.
The Journal of the Law Society of Scotland  

Lady Wolffe to leave the bench for Strathclyde Law School chair
Court of Session judge Lady Wolffe is stepping down from the bench in order to join the University of Strathclyde's Law School as a Professor of Practice. Lady Wolffe (Sarah P L Wolffe QC) was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice in 2014, and in 2016 became the first woman to be appointed to the Commercial Court. She takes up her post at Strathclyde as Professor Wolffe on September 20th and intends to pursue research and writing on civil justice and commercial law as well as teaching. She will also hold an honorary professorship at the University of Edinburgh.
The Journal of the Law Society of Scotland  

Call for Highland holiday lets to need planning permission
A council could use the planning system to control the number of homes being turned into short-term holiday lets in a part of the Cairngorms National Park. Highland Council convener Bill Lobban said there had been a "massive increase" in short-term lets in Badenoch and Strathspey. He said the situation had "severely affected" the local housing market. Mr Lobban and other councillors said changing a dwelling to a short-term let should require planning permission. In a vote on Thursday, Highland councillors unanimously backed the call for a draft proposal to set up a short-term let control area in Badenoch and Strathspey. Once drawn up, the plan would need to be approved by the Scottish government before going ahead.
BBC News  

Paisley man jailed over £2.4m cocaine collection
A self-employed Paisley gas engineer caught collecting drugs worth £2.4m has been jailed for four years. Allan Ferguson, 25, was stopped by police as he picked up about 20kg (44lb) of cocaine on August 18th 2020. A raid at his parents' house in Paisley, Renfrewshire recovered cocaine and a taser from a safe in his room. At a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow he admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine. Judge Lord Sandison warned Ferguson against his view expressed to social workers that the crime had any "particular victims".
BBC News  

Pacitti Jones acquires Dennistoun practice with further expansion in mind
Glasgow-based law firm and estate agent Pacitti Jones is acquiring a 167-year-old practice in Dennistoun. Pacitti Jones cited Dennistoun’s “vibrancy and young population” as it announced its acquisition of Alexander, Jubb & Taylor, of which Bill Nugent is the only partner. Pacitti Jones chief executive John O’Malley said: “We look to expand our operations across Scotland. There are likely to be further agency acquisitions coming soon and we are currently in discussions with a number of legal and letting firms. These will all be in Scotland – Greater Glasgow and West Central Scotland and we [are] also looking to move our expansion across Scotland too.”
Herald Scotland  

TLT moves Scots office to new Glasgow development
Commercial law firm TLT has signed up to become the first tenant at the £30m Cadworks development in Glasgow. It will occupy the 10,000 square foot ninth floor at the Grade A office block on Cadogan Street, which is scheduled for completion in November. The UK law firm will move its Scottish office to the building on a 10-year lease from its current premises on West George Street in early 2022. John Paul Sheridan, partner and location head at TLT, said: “We continue to invest to grow our business in Scotland and our new office space is the next step on that journey."
Herald Scotland  

Justice Secretary apologises for Police Scotland's crash death failures
Scotland's justice secretary has issued an apology over the "serious failures" in police call handling which contributed to a woman's death after a car crash on the M9 in 2015. Keith Brown told the families of Lamara Bell and John Yuill that he was "deeply sorry" for what had happened. Police Scotland has been fined £100,000 for its call-handling failures. The High Court in Edinburgh was told on Tuesday that Ms Bell would probably have survived if she had been found sooner. Mr Brown apologised to her family in a statement to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday, and also confirmed that the lord advocate had started work on a fatal accident inquiry into the tragedy.
STV   BBC News   The Times  

Change in Holyrood's legal status eases process of removing protesters
Holyrood is changing its legal status to make it easier for the police to remove protesters. Scottish Parliament bosses have asked the Home Office to designate the building and its grounds as a “protected site” in the interests of national security. Currently the police have limited powers to intervene if there is no substantive offence taking place, such as protesters making a prolonged noise outside the entrances; however, from next month it will be a criminal offence to remain on the parliamentary estate “without lawful authority” punishable by a £5000 fine or a year in jail after a conviction. The change, which will apply to all the landscaped grounds and ‘ponds’ area where most protests take place, brings Holyrood into line with Westminster and the Welsh Senedd.
The Herald   Edinburgh Evening News  

Registration is now open for the virtual STEP UK Tax, Trusts and Estates Conference.
The Virtual STEP UK Tax, Trusts and Estates conference returns this year and will bring you the same programme you would have experienced at the live event with eight leading industry experts covering the latest current and future developments in tax, trusts and estates- all in one day, this is the must-attend virtual conference of the year!
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Schools and cleansing staff could go on strike over pay
Nearly 10,000 school support and refuse and cleansing workers will be balloted by GMB Scotland for industrial action from next week. It comes after a consultative ballot of members across local government delivered a 95% rejection of COSLA's £850 a year increase for staff earning up to £25,000 a year.
STV  

The gender pension gap begins with the gender pay gap
Because the amount people save for a pension is usually a percentage of their salary, the 15.5% gender pay gap could immediately mean that, on average, women have less salary to put into their pension — and that’s before aspects like career breaks, caring responsibilities and part-time working are even brought into the equation.
Plus, the lower salary means that it takes women who started university after 2006/2007 an average of five years longer to pay back student debts.  This may mean that women often start saving for their pension later as their salary is going into paying off their student debts for a longer period.
Read the article in full

Vaccine passports to be introduced in October
Holyrood has approved plans for people in Scotland to need proof they have been fully vaccinated before they can enter nightclubs and many large events from 1 October. The proposals were opposed by the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats, but Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the system will reduce the risk of Covid transmission and help prevent venues from having to close again. Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross accused the Scottish Government’s proposals of lacking detail, including on what constitutes a nightclub. MSP Gillian Martin told Mr Ross that councils – including Moray and Aberdeenshire – have a working definition of a nightclub for licensing purposes. However, Mr Swinney did admit “discussions” were underway with the nightclub sector to agree the definition of a nightclub.
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Correction
In yesterday's Legal Matters Scotland, we incorrectly said that the Care Inspectorate had supplied its own staff to work in Singleton Park care home in Lockerbie instead of the Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care Partnership. We apologise for any confusion caused.