Month: March 2008

NEW LYON  

Scots Law News was once again delighted to learn of the judicial promotion of an Edinburgh Law School colleague when it was at last announced, on 7 March 2008, that David Sellar had been appointed Lord Lyon King of Arms in succession to Robin Blair, who resigned late last year.  David was previously Bute Pursuivant, one of the Lyon Court heralds.  For more details, see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/03/07101053 and Lyon’s own website, http://www.lyon-court.com/.  A rather intriguing URL, incidentally; why a .com rather than a .gov.uk domain name?   

On 7 March 2008 the Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, announced that Lord Cullen of Whitekirk had been invited to carry out a review into the law relating to fatal accident inquiries to consider whether the sheriff court remains the appropriate forum for such investigations, and to address other issues – including procedural rules, and the interaction between FAIs and other investigations (such as those carried out by the Health and Safety Executive).  More information on the review is at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/03/07095002 .

No sign of the forecast Second Reading of SNP MP Pete Wishart’s Sound Recordings (Copyright Term Extension) Bill on 6 March 2008 (see http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2007-08/soundrecordingscopyrighttermextension.html).  It has been pointed out to Scots Law News that Mr Wishart joined Runrig only in 1986, having previously played with Big Country (see Tom Morton, Going Home: The Runrig Story (Mainstream Publishing 1991) pp 105-108; and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Country).  It did strike Scots Law News on reading Mr Morton’s lavishly illustrated book that from their beginnings in the 1970s Runrig were a very copyright-conscious group; and all quotations from their lyrics, whether in Gaelic or translation, are carefully marked with the © symbol, usually in favour of the group-founding Macdonald brothers.  On Mr Wishart as a very active Westminster MP across a wide range of subjects apart from copyright, see http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/pete_wishart/perth_and_perthshire_north.

After hearing legal debate on 6 March 2008 Sheriff Thomas Ward of Stirling took to avizandum his judgement in the case where a Russian student who claims to have cohabited with the late James King before his death is seeking a share of his estate under the provisions of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 for the protection of cohabitants.  The defender is Mr King’s sister, who is a nun in a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayas (see previously No 739). 

Scots Law News was delighted to see elevated to the Court of Session and High Court bench erstwhile Edinburgh Law School colleague Stephen Woolman QC, the appointment being announced on 6 March 2008.  For more details see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/03/06100504.