Cases

A commercial judge’s decision that a clause in a road work contract stating that certain monies were to be returned to “the Contractor”, meaning a joint venture, should be interpreted instead as a relevant contractor company that was part of that joint venture has been overturned

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) notes the conclusion of the fatal accident inquiry into the death of John Norman Murray on Lewis. The inquiry considered what steps could be taken to prevent further deaths in similar circumstances and was held following a specialist investigati

An appeal against a Lands Tribunal decision imposing an agreement allowing the installation of a mobile phone mast on top of the Marks and Spencer store on Princes Street, Edinburgh, has been refused by the Inner House of Court of Session.

A property investor who sought the reduction of three personal guarantees granted by him to the Royal Bank of Scotland has been unsuccessful in establishing misrepresentation in an action before the Outer House of the Court of Session.

The UK Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed an appeal by HM Revenue and Customs against a decision that items constructed for the collection and transmission of water through a hydroelectric power station in Fort Augustus were not tunnels or aqueducts for the purposes of the Capital Allowance Ac

A building company that was hired to build an extension for a house has been successful in an Outer House action in which it sought over £370,000 from a client following adjudication in its favour.

A commercial judge has dismissed a £400 million action by an offshore energy company that alleged it had suffered loss by means of an unlawful means conspiracy perpetrated by another company and its partners in a bidding process for offshore wind farm sites.

An Edinburgh sheriff has ruled that the affairs of a scaffolding company had been conducted in a manner prejudicial to the interests of a man who was entitled to half the shares of the company by a stock transfer form completed by a late former director.

The Supreme Court has dismissed a final appeal by the seller of an office block in Cumbernauld against a decision by HM Revenue and Customs that VAT was chargeable on the sale of the land to an unconnected company.

A commercial judge in the Outer House of the Court of Session has allowed a proof in an £11.5 million action raised against two companies contracted to build and maintain a funicular railway in the Cairngorns after ruling that the claim had not expired by prescription.

The case of Muir Construction Limited v Kapital Residential Limited [2017] CSOH 132 served as a timely reminder of the importance for parties to a construction contract to understand the role of pay less notices. As economic uncertainty continues, maintaining cashflows and ensuring the correct amoun

A reclaiming motion by a local authority challenging the refusal of its counterclaim against an adjudicator’s decision that a Final Certificate of an amount due to a building contractor was not conclusive has been refused by a 2:1 decision in the Inner House of the Court of Session. D McLaughl

Litigation lawyer Richard McMeeken discusses a recent decision involving a building contractor which has clarified certain aspects of the law of bribery in Scotland. In Oil States Industries (UK) Limited v "S" Limited; Lagan Building Contractors Limited (in administration); John Hansen and Stuart Ir

A renewables company has failed in its bid to overturn a decision to refuse planning consent for a wind farm in Dumfries and Galloway. NLEI Ltd had sought to develop a wind farm at a site on the Queensberry Estate near Crawfordjohn, Sanquhar and Wanlockhead. The Scottish Ministers refused to gr

A commercial judge has rejected a proposition by an electricity supplier that a hotel’s case against non-payment of a £168,000 bill accrued over the past five years is irrelevant. SSE Energy Supply Ltd raised the case against Stag Hotel Ltd, the owner of a hotel in Argyll, for monthly in