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Maggie Scott QC
Margaret Elizabeth Scott, Lady Scott (born 1960, Nairobi, Kenya) is a Scottish lawyer who was appointed a judge in 2012. Early life and education Scott was born in 1960 in Nairobi, Kenya. She graduated from University of Edinburgh with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree and from the University of Strathclyde with a Diploma in Legal Practice (DipLP). Legal career Scott was admitted as a solicitor in 1989, and she was called to the bar in Scotland (the Faculty of Advocates) in 1991. She "took silk" (became a Queen's Counsel) in 2002. She has acted as lead counsel in a number of high-profile appeal cases such as the Lockerbie bombing and the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars, in which she defended Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Thomas "TC" Campbell, respectively. She was also successful in the appeal case of Kim Galbraith, whose murder conviction for shooting her policeman husband was reduced to diminished responsibility. Megrahi's second appeal On 6 November 2008, Scott applied to the Court of Cri ...
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The Honourable
''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style (manner of address), style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain people, usually with official governmental or diplomatic positions. Use by governments International diplomacy In international diplomatic relations, representatives of foreign states are often styled as ''The Honourable''. Deputy chiefs of mission, , consuls-general, consuls and honorary consuls are always given the style. All heads of consular posts, whether they are honorary or career postholders, are accorded the style according to the State Department of the United States. However, the style ''Excellency'' instead of ''The Honourable'' is used for ambassadors and high commissioners only. Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo In the Democrati ...
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Glasgow Ice Cream Wars
The ice cream wars were Gang#Gang violence, turf wars in the East End, Glasgow, East End of Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1980s between rival criminal organisations selling Illicit drug trade, drugs and sale of illegal goods, stolen goods from ice cream vans. Van operators were involved in frequent violence and intimidation tactics, the most notable example of which involved a driver and his family who were killed in an arson attack that resulted in a twenty-year court battle. The conflicts generated widespread public outrage, and earned the Strathclyde Police the nickname of "Serious Chimes Squad" (a pun on Serious Crime Squad) for its perceived failure to address them. Conflicts In 1980s Glasgow, several ice cream vendors also sold drugs and stolen goods along their routes, using the ice cream sales as Front organization, fronts. A turf war erupted between these vendors related to competition over the lucrative illegal activity, including intimidation of rival ice cream van operato ...
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Rape Crisis England And Wales
Rape Crisis England and Wales is the national umbrella organisation for non-profit rape crisis centres across England and Wales. As a registered charity, Rape Crisis also works to raise awareness of sexual violence and campaign for change. The rape crisis centres it represents are distinct from sexual assault referral centres, or SARCs, which are run by the NHS. Services Rape Crisis runs a freephone helpline for people who want to talk about what has happened to them. Specialist support is also available at rape crisis centres which are located throughout the UK. Rape Crisis is independent of the government and criminal justice system, and its services are available irrespective of whether or not the person wants to report the assault. In fact, only around 10% of the people who use Rape Crisis services also report the assault to the police. These not-for-profit community-based centres are distinct from sexual assault referral centres, or SARCs, which are funded and run by the Na ...
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Scots Law
Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Irish law, it is one of the three legal systems of the United Kingdom.Stair, General Legal Concepts (Reissue), para. 4 (Online) Retrieved 2011-11-29 Scots law recognises four sources of law: legislation, legal precedent, specific academic writings, and custom. Legislation affecting Scotland and Scots law is passed by the Scottish Parliament on all areas of devolved responsibility, and the United Kingdom Parliament on reserved matters. Some legislation passed by the pre-1707 Parliament of Scotland is still also valid. History of Scots law, Early Scots law before the 12th century consisted of the different legal traditions of the various cultural groups who inhabited the country at the time ...
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Discharge (sentence)
A discharge is a type of sentence imposed by a court whereby no punishment is imposed. An absolute discharge is an unconditional discharge whereby the court finds that a crime has technically been committed but that any punishment of the defendant would be inappropriate and the case is closed. In some jurisdictions, an absolute discharge means there is no conviction on the defendant's record, despite the plea of the defendant. A conditional discharge is an order made by a criminal court whereby an offender will not be sentenced for an offence unless a further offence is committed within a stated period. Once the stated period has elapsed and no further offence is committed then the conviction may be removed from the defendant's record. Australia In Australia, offenders can be discharged without being convicted, with or without being placed on a good behaviour bond (or other conditions). The sentencing options vary from state to state. Defendants can be discharged without convic ...
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Age Of Consent
The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to Human sexual activity, sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim that the sexual activity was consensual, and such sexual activity may be considered child sexual abuse or statutory rape. The person below the minimum age is considered the victim, and their sex partner the offender, although some jurisdictions provide exceptions through "Statutory rape#Romeo and Juliet laws, Romeo and Juliet laws" if one or both participants are underage and are close in age. The term ''age of consent'' typically does not appear in legal statutes. Generally, a law will establish the age below which it is illegal to engage in sexual activity with that person. It has sometimes been used with other meanings, such as the age at which a person becomes competent to consent to marriageable age, marriage, bu ...
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John Lamont
John Robert Lamont (born 15 April 1976) is a Scottish Conservative Party politician and solicitor who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk since 2017, and was Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland from July to November 2024. Lamont previously served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, later Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire after boundary changes, from 2007 to 2017. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland between October 2022 to July 2024. Early life and career John Lamont was born on 15 April 1976 in Kilwinning to Robert and Elizabeth Lamont. He was educated at Kilwinning Academy and studied at the School of Law of the University of Glasgow where he gained a first class honours degree. He worked as a solicitor at Freshfields in London and then at Brodies in Edinburgh. Political career In 2002, Lamont stood as a candidate in the London Borough of Lamb ...
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Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom In British politics, the Chief Whip of the governing party in the House of Commons is usually also appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, a Cabinet position. The Government Chief Whip has an official residence at 12 Downing Street; however, their offices are located at 9 Downing Street. The Chief Whip can wield great power over their party's MPs, including cabinet ministers, being seen to speak at all times on behalf of the Prime Minister. Margaret Thatcher was known for using her Chief Whip as a "cabinet enforcer". The role of the Chief Whip is regarded as secretive, as the Whip is concerned with the discipline of their own party's Members of Parliament, never appearing on television or radio in their capacity as whip. ...
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Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person who is incapable of giving valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, has an intellectual disability, or is below the legal age of consent ( statutory rape). The term ''rape'' is sometimes casually used interchangeably with the term ''sexual assault''. The rate of reporting, prosecuting and convicting for rape varies between jurisdictions. Internationally, the incidence of rapes recorded by the police during 2008 ranged, per 100,000 people, from 0.2 in Azerbaijan to 92.9 in Botswana with 6.3 in Lithuania as the median.
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Sheriff Court
A sheriff court () is the principal local civil and criminal court in Scotland, with exclusive jurisdiction over all civil cases with a monetary value up to , and with the jurisdiction to hear any criminal case except treason, murder, and rape, which are in the exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court of Justiciary. Though the sheriff courts have concurrent jurisdiction with the High Court over armed robbery, drug trafficking, and sexual offences involving children, the vast majority of these cases are heard by the High Court. Each court serves a sheriff court district within one of the six sheriffdoms of Scotland. Each sheriff court is presided over by a sheriff, who is a legally qualified judge, and part of the judiciary of Scotland. Sheriff courts hear civil cases as a bench trial without a jury, and make determinations and judgments alone. However, the specialist all-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court (based in Edinburgh) has the ability to hear cases with a j ...
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Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing Trial
The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, more than 11 years after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988. The 36-week bench trial took place at a specially convened Scottish Court in the Netherlands set up under Scots law and held at a disused United States Air Force base called Camp Zeist near Utrecht. Trial set-up Venue Upon the indictment of the two Libyan suspects in November 1991, the Libyan government was called upon to extradite them for trial in either the United Kingdom or the United States. Since no bilateral extradition treaty was in force between Libya and either of the two countries seeking extradition, Libya refused to hand the men over but did offer to detain them for trial in Libya, as long as all the incriminating evidence was provided. The offer was unacceptable to the US and UK, and there was an impasse for the next three years. In November 1994, President Nelson Mandela offered South Africa as a neutral venue for the trial ...
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Bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries, especially the United States, bail usually implies a bail bond, a deposit of money or some form of property to the court by the suspect in return for the release from pre-trial detention. If the suspect does not return to court, the bail is forfeited and the suspect may be charged with the crime of failure to appear. If the suspect returns to make all their required appearances, bail is returned after the trial is concluded. In other countries, such as the United Kingdom, bail is more likely to consist of a set of restrictions that the suspect will have to abide by for a set period of time. Under this usage, bail can be given both before and after charge. Bail offered before charge is known as pre-charge or p ...
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