Opinion: Judith Ratcliffe – Journal of the Law Society Scotland

Posted May 26th, 2023 in documents, government departments, internet, local government, news, Scotland by tracey

‘In this age of drives to digital, we need, written into law, a right for every citizen in the United Kingdom to access Government and local authority services offline (on paper and over the counter)’

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Journal of the Law Society Scotland , 15th May 2023

Source: www.lawscot.org.uk

Scottish Prison Service faces first UK prosecution for corporate homicide – BBC News

Posted March 7th, 2023 in corporate manslaughter, news, prisons, prosecutions, Scotland by sally

‘Police have been told to investigate whether the Scottish Prison Service should be prosecuted over the death of a remand prisoner, the BBC can reveal.’

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BBC News, 7th March 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

New Judgment: DCM (Optical Holdings) Ltd v Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Scotland) [2023] UKSC 7 – UKSC Blog

‘Under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (the “VAT Act“), “newspapers” are “zero-rated”, meaning Value Added Tax (“VAT“) is not charged on them. The question in this case is whether, between 30 August 2010 – 4 December 2016 (the “relevant period“), zero-rating extended beyond print newspapers to digital editions of newspapers, such as editions for e-readers, tablets, smartphones and websites.’

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UKSC Blog, 22nd February 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

Gordon Guthrie: Brown vs Dewar – The Labour Commission on the UK’s Future – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘With the publication of Labour’s Commission on the UK’s Future it is worth contrasting the approach that Gordon Brown and his colleagues have taken with the very successful devolutionary legacy of Donald Dewar.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 8th February 2023

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Case Comment: McCue (as guardian for Andrew McCue) v Glasgow City Council [2023] UKSC 1 – UKSC Blog

Posted February 2nd, 2023 in community care, disabled persons, news, Scotland, social services, Supreme Court by sally

‘In this post, Erin Crawley, a trainee solicitor in the Infrastructure, Construction and Energy Disputes team at CMS, comments on the case of McCue (as guardian for Andrew McCue) v Glasgow City Council [2023] UKSC 1.’

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UKSC Blog, 2nd February 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

Case Comment: DCM (Optical Holdings) Ltd v Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2022] UKSC 26 – UKSC Blog

Posted January 24th, 2023 in amendments, news, repayment, Scotland, Supreme Court, taxation, time limits by sally

‘In this post, Neal Chandru, an Associate in the Tax team at CMS, comments on the case of DCM (Optical Holdings) Ltd (“DCM”) v Commissioners for his Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”) [2022] UKSC 26 – handed down on 12 October 2022.’

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UKSC Blog, 23rd January 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

Gender row legal challenge likely to fail – judge – BBC News

Posted January 19th, 2023 in bills, birth certificates, devolution, equality, gender, news, Scotland, transgender persons by tracey

‘The Scottish government’s chances of winning a legal challenge over the gender reform row are “very low”, a former Supreme Court judge has said.’

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BBC News, 18th January 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Rishi Sunak blocks Scotland’s gender recognition legislation – The Guardian

Posted January 17th, 2023 in bills, birth certificates, devolution, news, Scotland, transgender persons by sally

‘Rishi Sunak’s government has blocked legislation passed by the Scottish parliament that would make Scotland the first part of the UK to introduce a self-identification system for people who want to change gender.’

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The Guardian, 16th January 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

New Judgment: McCue (as guardian for Andrew McCue)(AP) v Glasgow City Council (Scotland) [2023] UKSC 1 – UKSC Blog

Posted January 12th, 2023 in community care, disabled persons, news, Scotland, social services, Supreme Court by sally

‘This appeal is concerned with the provision of community care services to disabled persons pursuant to the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 (the “1968 Act”) and the charges made for such provision.’

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UKSC Blog, 11th January 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

UK review of gender recognition list risks ‘trans travel ban’ – The Guardian

Posted January 11th, 2023 in bills, equality, gender, government departments, news, Scotland, transgender persons by sally

‘Rishi Sunak has been told he risks “re-toxifying” his government’s record on LGBTQ+ rights and introducing “an effective trans travel ban” after the equalities minister announced a review of countries whose process for changing gender on legal documents is recognised by the UK.’

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The Guardian, 10th January 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Mohamed Moussa: The ‘Absent Word’ Canon and Asymmetrical Sovereignty – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘The UK Supreme Court (UKSC) recently issued its unanimous judgment which found the draft Scottish Independence Referendum Bill to be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. While the facts of this case are distinctively different from previous Scottish cases, a common theme remains in the Court’s insistence on ‘ordinary meaning of words’ as its ‘general approach to the interpretation of the Scotland Act’. According to such an approach, the Court prioritises ‘the language carefully chosen by the Parliamentary drafter and enacted by Parliament’ as ‘[t]he best way of ensuring a coherent, stable and workable outcome’. The purpose of this blog post is not to explore the facts of this particular case. Rather, it focuses on the UKSC’s repeated stress of textualism. A similarity is found in the Court’s textual interpretation of Section 28(7), which was understood to affirm the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty and served as the crux of its previous cases on devolution. The aim of the post is to show the questionable nature of the Court’s textual fidelity and highlight that it runs counter to foundational canons of interpretation. For space constraints, my argument focuses mainly on Section 21 from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill Reference (UNCRC Incorporation Bill case) after briefly discussing section 17 of the Scottish Legal Continuity Bill.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 20th December 2022

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Chris Himsworth: Referendum Bill Consequentials – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘At paras 56-57 of their judgment, the court in Reference by the Lord Advocate of devolution issues ([2022] UKSC 31) declared: “The central issue is whether legislation for a referendum on Scottish independence would relate to a reserved matter…. The critical question is accordingly whether the proposed Bill would relate to the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England or the Parliament of the United Kingdom”.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 29th November 2022

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Footballer Quitongo loses race discrimination claim against former club – The Independent

Footballer Rico Quitongo has described losing his race discrimination claim against his former club as a “bitter blow”.

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The Independent, 24th November 2022

Source: www.independent.co.uk

New Judgment: Reference by the Lord Advocate of devolution issues under paragraph 34 of Schedule 6 to the Scotland Act 1998 [2022] UKSC 31 – UKSC Blog

‘The Scottish Government drafted a Scottish Independence Referendum Bill which makes provision for a referendum on the question, “Should Scotland be an independent country?”. Under the Scotland Act 1998 (“the Scotland Act”), the power of the Scottish Parliament to make legislation (or its “legislative competence”) is limited. A provision of a Bill will be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and therefore not law if it relates to the matters which have been reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament in Westminster (sections 29(1) and (2)(b)). These reserved matters include “the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England” and “the Parliament of the United Kingdom” (Schedule 5, paragraphs 1(b) and (c)).’

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UKSC Blog, 23rd November 2022

Source: ukscblog.com

Supreme court rules against Scottish parliament holding new independence referendum – The Guardian

‘The Scottish parliament cannot hold a second independence referendum without Westminster approval, the UK supreme court has ruled, in a unanimous judgment likely to anger Scottish nationalists who say the country’s future is for Scottish voters to decide.’

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The Guardian, 23rd November 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

What is the supreme court’s Scottish independence ruling about? – The Guardian

‘All you need to know about decision on whether Scotland can hold new referendum without Westminster approval.’

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The Guardian, 23rd November 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

Supreme Court to rule on indyref2 powers next week – BBC News

Posted November 16th, 2022 in devolution issues, news, parliament, referendums, Scotland, Supreme Court by sally

‘The Supreme Court will deliver its judgement next Wednesday on whether the Scottish Parliament can hold a second independence referendum without Westminster’s approval.’

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BBC News, 16th November 2022

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

New Judgment: Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs v NHS Lothian Health Board (Scotland) 2022 UKSC [28] – UKSC Blog

Posted October 20th, 2022 in burden of proof, EC law, evidence, news, Scotland, standard of proof, Supreme Court, VAT by sally

‘This appeal concerns the correct approach to evidence and the burden and standard of proof in the context of historic claims for the recovery of input Value Added Tax (“VAT”). Input tax is the VAT incurred when the taxpayer buys in supplies which it uses for the purpose of a business activity.’

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UKSC Blog, 19th October 2022

Source: ukscblog.com

Supreme Court indyref2 judgment could take ‘six to eight weeks’, Lord Hope says – The Independent

Posted October 10th, 2022 in bills, constitutional law, devolution issues, news, referendums, Scotland, Supreme Court by tracey

‘The Supreme Court’s judgment on the legality of a Scottish independence referendum could be provided within six to eight weeks, its former deputy president has said.’

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The Independent, 9th October 2022

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Stephen Tierney: The Lord Advocate’s Reference: Referendums and Constitutional Convention – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘Section 29(1) of the 1998 Act provides that an Act of the Scottish Parliament is not law so far as any provision of the Act is outside the legislative competence of the Parliament. A provision is outside that competence so far as it “relates to reserved matters” (s.29(2)(b)), and whether or not it relates to a reserved matter is to be determined by “reference to the purpose of the provision, having regard (among other things) to its effect in all the circumstances” (s.29(3)).’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 4th October 2022

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org