The Scottish Legal System

by Megan Dewart

Overview

A course on the Scottish legal system is a compulsory part of undergraduate degrees in Scots Law. The Scottish Legal System sets out to present the legal system and law of Scotland as unique and constantly changing and places the Scottish legal system in its broader political and social contexts.
This well-established text provides an up-to-date treatment of all significant developments affecting the Scottish legal system. It covers not only the central aspects of the system, such as the courts and the legal profession, but also the common areas with constitutional law and jurisprudence.
The seventh edition will include new case law on devolution and human rights issues in Scotland. It will also cover the changes to the sources of law of the European Union and the principles of application of EU law following Brexit.

This title is included in Bloomsbury Professional's Scots Law Student online service.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526526649
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/08/2025
Edition description:	7th ed.
Pages:	472
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Megan Dewart is an Advocate at Axiom Advocates. Megan called to the Bar in 2019 as the Lord Reid Scholar 2018-2019. Prior to this she worked for three years as Law Clerk to the Lord President, Lord Carloway. During that time, she assisted with all aspects of his work as an appellate judge in both civil and criminal cases, including many commercial and public law appeals. Megan previously trained and practised as a solicitor at Simpson & Marwick.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction
2 Scotland – nation and state
3 Institutions – the constitutional background
4 Institutions – courts, tribunals, judges and procedure
5 Sources of law
6 Legislation – European Union law
7 Legislation – United Kingdom Parliamentary legislation (including the Human Rights Act 1998)
8 Legislation – Acts of the Scottish Parliament
9 Legislation – United Kingdom delegated legislation
10 Legislation – Scottish delegated legislation
11 Legislation – application, construction and interpretation: statutory interpretation
12 Precedent – ratio decidendi, obiter dicta and stare decisis
13 Precedent – law reports
14 Legal services
15 Law reform
Appendix 1 - A note on the nature of rules
Appendix 2 - Scottish Courts (simplified)
English and Welsh Courts (simplified)
Northern Ireland Courts (simplified)
Appendix 3 - 'Europe'