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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This opinion piece written by the Dean of Faculty, and published earlier this week, on the state of the requirement for corroboration in Scottish criminal cases following recent decisions of the Appeal Court is an interesting and, in my opinion, important read www.scottishlegal.com/articles/the...

scottishlegal.com

Roddy Dunlop KC: The death of corroboration – how the law of Scotland took a wrong turn

In an extended article for Scottish Legal News, Dean of Faculty Roddy Dunlop KC warns that corroboration has now been effectively abolished in the wake of HM Advocate v PK. For centuries, the requirem...

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Reposted by Alistair Sloan

Rebecca McKee @rebeccamckee.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

New from me on the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk substack "the write-round" Why can't MPs call each other liars? Part of a new series of 'why parliament is weird' a collection of gripes, oddities and head scratchers...would love to hear your takes on the weirdest things in parliament!

instituteforgov.substack.com

Why parliament is weird (no.1): Why can't MPs call each other liars?

MPs can be quite rude to each other in the House. So why can’t they call each other liars?

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Alex Norris - seems we might be back to the days of Grayling as to my knowledge, Norris has never studied law let along practised it.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Seems D(D)CMS is going back to the 2017-23 era

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Indeed. The police need to be allowed the time and space to properly conduct their inquiries. If there have been nefarious actions involved then those responsible must be identified and face justice; that must be allowed to happen unencumbered.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

The thing about being good at the bar is you don’t have to agree, on a personal level, for the argument that you’re making or like the people you’re making the argument for

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

That is one of the obvious issues with the Starmer premiership. He was not really a politician himself so needed to surround himself with good advisors (which he very obviously didn’t).

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Exactly. Back in the day of McMillan, Eden etc Starmer would have seen the King this afternoon and we would have a new PM bed the day was over.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Is there really any doubt who has the confidence of the Commons?

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

This isn’t right at all. He will be resigning as PM but until he goes to see The King to resign (which will be next month or September depending on the number of candidates to replace him) he is still the PM. We’ve been through the same story many times before, this should be common knowledge.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

We’d had five in my first 21 years but we have had 6 in the last 10 years.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

My fifth was Cameron (probably the biggest disaster of them all). I was only 21 when he came to office though. The rate at which we’re burning through PMs is astonishing and absurd.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

This amendment doesn’t seem to actually do anything to advance the cause of PR. Could be described as virtue signalling.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Pretty standard for the ICO. The regulator with plenty of teeth but whose bark (well it’s more of a whimper) is much, much worse than its bite.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Good morning from Pafos 🇨🇾

A photograph looking out over the water near Paphos harbour

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Yesterday, the decision in the first certification of non-compliance with a decision notice of the Scottish Information Commissioner was issued. I have written a post on my blog looking at the decision: lnkd.in/exq4Cyn8

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

I've written on my blog about a decision of the First-tier Tribunal where it has agreed with the Information Commissioner that information to which legal privilege attaches should be disclosed in response to a FOI request: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2026/05/28/w...

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

I've written a short post on my blog looking at the decision of the Upper Tribunal fining the University of Exeter £15,000 over a failure to comply with a decision of the First-tier Tribunal in relation to a FOI appeal: lnkd.in/ewT-eTVn

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Basically we typical charge a flat daily fee for trials/proofs/appeal hearings (which includes a typical amount of preparation for the hearing). A one day hearing would be £y, a 2 day would be £2y etc. How the cancellation fee will be calculated will depend on factors such a length of hearing etc.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

There would usually be a cancellation fee (historically called a "disappointment fee") where settlement took place shortly before or on the day of the hearing.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

We generally don't work on the brief and refresher fee system that you have down there (although that's not to say it doesn't happen, but it's more of an exception). Can't of course speak for the arrangements in this case. I would assume that expenses will have been dealt with in the settlement.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

I think, but I may not have been paying that much attention to the live stream, that the parties were seeking to have the matter remitted to the Inner House after the UKSC has given judgment so that effect could be given to whatever settlement they have reached.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

That's a much shorter list than up here. We don't require to do any form of international law in Scotland either (unless you wish to come to Faculty in which case you have to do international private (and Roman law)).

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

In essence, every Scots law student will study family law as well as trusts and succession (specific module names may vary from university to university) as part of their degree (including the "accelerated" degree for graduates from other disciplines)

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Interesting. The Law Society of Scotland requires the study of succession; parentage; parental responsibilities and rights, children's rights; the creation, consequence and termination of marriage and civil partnerships; and rights and obligations arising from cohabitation.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Bizarre appointments. Brown was decent in his time, but he's of yesterday and the world in which he operated no longer exists. As for an adviser on violence against women and girls, he arguably already has an excellent person in the actual ministerial job if he just allowed her to be effective.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

On Asylum the only thing that they really needed to do was put money into (properly) clearing the backlog of claims that had been allowed to build up because it's not humane to leave people in a legal limbo for years

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

While it is true that there was no way they were going to fix the mess of 2010-24 in a year (or ever in the space of the 2024-29 Parliament) that only works as an argument if they had actually been doing what was needed to fix that mess rather than make things demonstrably worse.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

As for the first question (that of PO) Liam McArthur must be in with a shout if he would want it. Been in the Scottish parliament for almost 20 years, was a deputy in the last session and is probably fairly well respected across the political divide.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Most likely. On number of votes cast Labour can probably claim to be the second largest: Labour: 440,708 (constituency) | 368,785 (regional) Reform: 361,994 (constituency) | 383,425 (regional) Both contested all 73 constituencies and 8 regions.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

There isn't, but there are still practical questions in terms of order of front bench speeches etc.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

First big question for Holyrood is who will replace Alison Johnstone as Presiding Officer? Given that Labour are tied with Reform I suspect they won't be keen to give up an MSP to the role. The second big question is how they will deal with a tied second place. Probably a challenge for the new PO.

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Reposted by Alistair Sloan

Ballot Box Scotland @ballotbox.scot · 07/05/2026

Polls are now CLOSED for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election! I can hardly believe it, but that's it, the people have spoken. Don't wait up to hear what they've said though: the count begins at 9am tomorrow. I'll have all the detail on the Ballot Box Scotland website: preview to come shortly!

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Polls close for the Scottish Parliament general election in less than one hour. There is still time to cast your vote. If you have a postal vote that you didn't return by post you can still complete it and hand it in to any polling station in your constituency before the polls close.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

I think that's right; this was an appeal against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal on a preliminary issue which proceeded on agreed hypothetical facts. I haven't been able to locate the First-tier Tribunal's decision which was under appeal (otherwise I would have linked to it in my blog post).

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

The Upper Tribunal has recently issued a decision in an appeal where the issue of legal professional privilege was the central matter of concern in relation to a FOI request made to the Cabinet Office in 2020. I have written on my blog about that decision: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2026/04/20/p...

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Received this in a recent FOI request acknowledgment from a Scottish public authority…might be more convenient for the authority, but given the need to be able to evidence the request should you need to go to the Commissioner it’s somewhat inappropriate

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Thank you. Interesting question; I suspect not. Each case will turn on its own particular circumstances. Individual decisions of the SIC (or of public authorities) don't set precedent and everyone now has this decision from the Court of Session (which does) to take into account in future cases.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

I've written on my blog about last week's important decision from the Court of Session looking at the interaction between legal professional privilege and FOI law: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2026/03/30/s... #FOI #Scotland #LPP #FreedomofInformation

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

I have written on my blog about last week's important ECJ case on if and when a controller can refuse a subject access request as excessive on the grounds that it is excessive, even where it is a first request by a data subject to a controller: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2026/03/25/r...

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

21 years on and FOI is still seen as an "extra" that is "nice to have" that distracts and removes people from the authority's "core services" rather than a legal obligation that is one of those "core services."

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Watched Louis Theroux’s documentary on the “manosphere”. I’m sorry, but the name HS Tiky Tocky (or whatever it is) is about as far from “Alpha” as you can get…

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

I wrote to my MP (@brianleishmanmp.bsky.social) about this issue. The argument advanced by the UK Govt is fundamentally disingenuous and the Scottish Govt has tried several times recently to reduce/remove juries. Success in England and Wales would likely spur them on to try again.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Why do companies insist on a recorded message that says they’re experiencing higher than usual call volumes? Everyone knows it’s a lie; it’s simply they don’t employ enough people. In the last two days I’ve phoned @arnoldclark.bsky.social TSB and @virginmedianews.bsky.social; all have said the same.

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Reposted by Alistair Sloan

Aileen McHarg @aileenmcharg.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

This is a good piece, but the attacks on Dorothy Bain are not the only recent example of attempts to undermine trust in the legal system for political gain, and the press and others who have been insinuating wrongdoing on the flimsiest of evidence are also complicit.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Indeed. It is a concern that good candidates will not put themselves forward which will only be to the detriment of the office and the system as a whole.

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Alistair Sloan @alistairsloan.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Labour governments don't come along often; it would, therefore, be good if this so-called Labour government actually started acting like a Labour government.

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