ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note considered the key legal developments during 2025 for corporate crime practitioners in Scotland. This Practice Note provides a summary of the key legal developments that are expected to impact Scottish corporate crime lawyers during 2025 and beyond. It also summarises the key developments which have already taken place in 2025. For a summary of the key legal developments which are expected to impact corporate crime lawyers across the UK in 2025, see our E&W Practice Note: Corporate Crime horizon scanner—2025 [Archived]. Key primary legislation Information on the progress of government bills through the UK Parliament which may be of interest to corporate crime practitioners, can be found in Practice Note: Corporate Crime bills tracker—2025 [Archived]. This tracker is designed to assist corporate crime lawyers in Scotland keep up to date with relevant Acts of the Scottish Parliament and Bills being examined by the Scottish Parliament. Bill/Act Subject Analysis Further material Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 The Act received Royal Assent on 30 October 2025.

This Practice Note provides a summary of the key legal developments that are expected to impact Scottish corporate crime lawyers during 2026 and beyond. It also summarises the key developments which have already taken place in 2026. For a summary of the key legal developments which are expected to impact corporate crime lawyers across the UK in 2026, see our E&W Practice Note: Corporate Crime horizon scanner—2026. Key primary legislation Information on the progress of government Bills through the UK Parliament which may be of interest to corporate crime practitioners, can be found in Practice Note: Corporate Crime bills tracker—2026. This tracker is designed to assist corporate crime lawyers in Scotland keep up to date with relevant Acts of the Scottish Parliament and Bills being examined by the Scottish Parliament. Bill/Act Subject Analysis Further material Key secondary legislation Forthcoming Scottish statutory instruments which may be of interest to Scottish corporate crime practitioners include: Commencement date SSI details Further reading 1 January 2027 The Digital Waste Tracking (Scotland) Regulations 2026,

Construction analysis: The Court of Session has dismissed an action raised by Greater Glasgow Health Board (GGHB), against Multiplex Construction (Europe) Ltd (MPX), in respect of defective cladding at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow, finding that the claim by GGHB had prescribed. The court (as set out in the Opinion of Lord Braid) applied the relevant provisions of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 (PL(S)A 1973) to the particular circumstances in order to determine the competing arguments of the parties as to the start date of the five-year prescriptive period for the commencement of legal proceedings in respect of a claim and whether any interruption of that period was justified to postpone the last date for the making of a claim. Written by Michael Conroy, Partner at Harper Macleod LLP.

In a case brought by Uplift and Greenpeace UK, the Scottish Court of Session has ruled that the 2023 approval of the Rosebank oil field located off the Shetland coast in the North Atlantic, was unlawful, as it failed to account for emissions from burning the field's oil. The court has suspended its reduction order pending a new decision, allowing preparatory work to continue but prohibiting oil and gas extraction. If Rosebank’s owners, Equinor and Ithaca Energy, wish to proceed with the project, they must resubmit a new Environmental Impact Assessment that includes the field’s ‘scope three’ emissions.

130 cases have been resolved early at Glasgow Sheriff Court due to a new plea surgery. The surgery was brought in by Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar as part of a further initiative to reduce the number of cases calling at trial diet and to reduce the case backlog. The plea surgery in Glasgow follows on from the past success of the plea surgery introduced by Sheriff Principal Anwar in Hamilton while she was Sheriff Principal in South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway.

This body provides administrative support in Scotland for courts, judges and tribunals.

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has announced the appointment of Lord Beckett as the new Lord Justice Clerk, succeeding Lady Dorrian. Lord Beckett, an experienced judge with over 17 years on the bench, brings knowledge of criminal cases and a commitment to improving court processes. His appointment follows his recent elevation to the Inner House of the Court of Session in 2023. Lord Beckett's background includes work on sexual offence case management, jury directions, and trauma-informed judicial training. As Lord Beckett assumes this role, he is expected to play an important part in upcoming Scottish legal reforms and will chair the Scottish Sentencing Council.

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) has announced the launch of Criminal Appeal Court Live, making the Criminal Appeal Court the first criminal court in Scotland to offer regular livestreaming. Starting 29 August 2025, the service will initially cover solemn (jury) criminal appeals against conviction and Crown appeals against sentence, with plans to expand to all appeals. The service, accessible through the SCTS website, will provide live and on-demand viewing options, case summaries, and written decisions. The initiative follows the successful implementation of livestreaming in the Court of Session in June 2023, which has streamed 68 hearings to date, with some cases reaching over 5,000 viewers.

A public body that assists with criminal case reviews where a miscarriage of justice is alleged.

The Criminal Justice Committee has agreed the general principles of the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill based on its proposals to improve the justice system. However, in the Stage 1 report, the Committee has said that further evidence, data and scrutiny is required, with concerns being raised about the extent of legal reform within the Bill and the potential for unintended consequences which could arise as a result. One of the key findings of the report is that the Committee argues for the abolition of the 'not proven' verdict, but that there was not enough compelling evidence to support the proposed changes to jury size and majority.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is Scotland's principal environmental regulator. It fulfils a broadly similar function to the Environment Agency (EA) in England and Natural Resources Wales for Wales. For information on the enforcement powers of the environmental regulators in England and Wales, see Practice Notes: • Environment Agency—powers to investigate environmental crime • Environment Agency (EA)—powers of entry. • Natural Resources Wales—powers to investigate environmental crime • Local authorities—powers to investigate environmental crime • Natural England—powers to investigate environmental crime For details of the key environmental offences in Scotland, see Practice Note: Key environmental offences in Scotland and for the approach to sentencing, see Practice Note: Sentencing environmental offences in Scotland. SEPA's role and policy SEPA was established by section 20 and Schedule 6 to the Environment Act 1995 (EA 1995). It is a body corporate and is classified as an executive Non-Departmental Public Body. SEPA's purpose, as noted on its website and as per EA 1995, s 20A, is to ensure that Scotland’s environment is protected

Tax analysis: In Bagshaw Limited v Revenue Scotland, the Tax Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Scottish FTT) allowed the taxpayer’s appeal against Revenue Scotland’s refusal of a land and buildings transaction tax (LBTT) repayment claim. The properties were not ‘residential property’ within section 59(1) of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013 (LBTT(S)A 2013) at the effective date, because they were not suitable for use as dwellings.