Reading Time: 5 minutes The UK is set to leave the European Union (EU) on 30 March 2019. The draft Withdrawal Agreement (“the agreement”) of 29 March 2018 contains
Category: Justice
Civil Partnerships in Scotland
Reading Time: 4 minutes The UK Supreme Court recently ruled in the Steinfeld and Keiden case, that the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (2004 Act), which allows civil partnerships for
A new approach to women offenders in Scotland
Reading Time: 5 minutes Where were we? Scotland has come a long way in its approach to women offenders in recent years. For example, until the mid 2000s, women
Prisoner voting in the UK and Scotland – rights vs political reality
Reading Time: 4 minutes Are prisoners allowed to vote in the UK? Although changes are in the pipeline, in the UK the answer is currently ‘no’. UK legislation (the
Family law is under review
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Scottish Government’s consultation on family law, a document of potentially great significance to Scottish children and their parents, was published last week. It received
Grandparents’ rights
Reading Time: 4 minutes Divorce and family breakdown can be very difficult for all involved. But an issue that is all too often overlooked is the situation which can
Guest Blog – The National Performance Framework
Reading Time: 4 minutes As with all guest blogs, what follows are the views of the author, Jennifer Wallace, Head of Policy at the Carnegie UK Trust, and not those
The Scottish Government’s legal aid Review
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Scottish Government’s independent Review of legal aid reported at the end of February. It advocates for an improved and simplified system, with the user
Fixing human rights breaches in legislation: criminal record disclosures, protecting children and the right to privacy
Reading Time: 3 minutes Getting the right balance between protecting children and respecting individual rights to privacy is almost always a difficult policy issue. Last year the courts found