Housing law in Scotland
There are over twenty thousand eviction actions in Scotland every year. The standard guide, though becoming out of date, remains 'Eviction and Rent Arrears' (pdf), 1995, (without appendices to reduce the download size); see also a historical account of eviction (pdf) in Scotland. There is an incomplete digest of recent case law on the Govan Law Centre site.
Administrative and constitutional law; judicial review
Judicial review is the process in the Court of Session by which those judicial, quasi-judicial, and administrative acts which are not subject to appeal are challenged. Procedure is regulated by Chapter 58 of the Rules of Court. Download a full introduction to judicial review (pdf) by Robert Sutherland, who was called to the Bar in 1992 and has a special interest in this field, explaining both the procedure and the substantive grounds of challenge. For a civil service perspective , see 'The Judge over your Shoulder' (pdf), 3rd edition, by the Treasury Solicitors Department.
Immigration and asylum law
Note: this will be updated in light of changes consequent on the establishment of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal on4 April 2005 (by the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004). The Court of Session new rules are in SSI 2005/198; these, misleadingly, are not incorporated into the Scottish Courts Service edition of the Rules of Court. Critically, challenges to tribunal decisions must be lodged within five days of the posting to the appellant of the tribunal decision, i.e. immediately: so if that's your issue, get counsel now.
The substantive law of immigration and asylum in Scotland is UK law; the Electronic Immigration Network lists practically all useful links. Decisions of the AIT in Scotland are subject to review in the Court of Session rather than the English courts, (see the decision in Tehrani v Home Secretary, now under appeal to the House of Lords, for the traditional borderline) and rather belatedly the English Legal Services Commission has realised that English legal aid should not be made available for Scottish hearings.
The pre-2005 procedure on appeals from the Immigration Appeals Tribunal (pdf) is described by Scott Blair, another advocate with a specialism in this field (this paper originally published by and copyright of W Greens; reproduced by their permission) who is also the first advocate in Scotland to publish a blog which covers new developments in immigration law.
Legal Aid
Go to the Legal Aid page for the Scottish Legal Aid Handbook, downloadable or readable online, and other Legal Aid material.
|
