Dumpling in a Hanky

The House of Lords Constitution Committee has published its eigth report, " Scottish independence: constitutional implications of the referendum ". Within that, Sections 79 to 83 discuss the effect of a potential "Yes" vote in the upcoming referendum, with the following result: If an independent Scotland were to have its own supreme court, justices with experience of Scots law would no longer be appointed to the UK Supreme Court. However, given their UK-wide remit, serving justices with this experience should continue to sit on the Supreme Court until their scheduled date of retirement.

So, while trying to find out what the difference between a megawatt and a gigawatt is, I had a thought...how much power, in gigawatts, did it take to power the Delorean in "Back to the Future"? According to the esteemed  Doc Brown , it was 1.21 gigawatts, the power being provided by the nuclear reaction of plutonium, unwisely stolen from terrorists. According to the Scottish Government (p3), as at July 2011, Scotland had 4.2 gigawatts of installed capacity from renewable sources such as wind and wave power. We could send Marty Back to the Future three times over. And completely avoid the need for stealing plutonium from bad guys. Nice!

Scheduled to come into force on 2nd July , the new regulations for the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010 will move Scottish law firms one step closer to the ABS model currently in place in England and Wales . From 2 July 2012, the Scottish Government will be able to begin accepting applications from those bodies wishing to become approved regulators, presumably the Law Society and other legal professional bodies. Legislation referred to in the Scottish Government press release is linked to below: Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010 (Ancillary Provision) Regulations 2012  (draft) Licensed Legal Services (Specification of Regulated Professions) (Scotland) Regulations 2012   (draft) Licensed Legal Services (Complaints and Compensation Arrangements) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (SSI 2012/153)  Licensed Legal Services (Interests in Licensed Providers) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (SSI 2012/154)  Licensed Legal Services (Maximum Penalty and Interest in respect ...

It’s all change at the moment in Englandshire law firms, and what happens in England no longer stays in England . Alternative Business Structures (ABS) are all the rage, and after a gradual run up period where firms could register interest in the conversion to ABS status (with mainly personal injury firms (PI) and smaller firms doing so, some large businesses such as BT and the Co-operative group being an exception), now they’re actually real – the first three groups to be approved as ABS’ were announced on the 28th March 2012 . Mid tier and larger firms in England seems to be adopting a “wait and see approach”, watching how the smaller, more adaptable firms (and also therefore possibly those who are more hungry for a cash-injection) fare before committing themselves to any tie-ups with investors. The existing large bodies like the Co-operative Group are big enough, and well funded enough to push on and expand their existing legal services in their own direction. The react...

I imagine the first entry on the How To Be A Sheriff checklist would be this: 1: Remember to turn up for court when you're meant to. Therefore, this sheriff is really gonna be in the Bad Books with the Scottish Court Service...

Feel like going fishing? Well, if you want to go and fish in the River Esk, which is mainly in Scotland, you'll have to apply for a fishing licence from the Environment Agency in England. Bit confusing, so there's a test case coming up on the 10th September...

Why anyone would think that allowing the Scottish Government to be involved in the running of the National Library of Scotland would be a good idea? Seriously? How exactly c ould putting a sprawling body with no particular expertise in managing Scottish heritage in charge of the NLS and NMS be a better idea than having those areas managed by experts and professionals in the field, with massive amounts of experience and understanding? *Facepalm*

Yes, I am going wild, and gallivanting out of my library nest to...a bookshop. More specifically, an event run by the Edinburgh Bookshop on March 3rd, to celebrate the launch of Alexander McCall Smiths' new Number One Ladies Detective Agency book, "The Double Comfort Safari Club". Although I do like his books, this isn't an outing for me: it's actually an important mission on behalf of someone else, who loves his books, but lives on slightly the wrong continent to actually get to meet the author, or have him deface....erm...sign a book for them. So adventuring I shall go...and I have a spare ticket reserved...anyone wanna join me?

....I mean, the Scottish Courts logo doesn't look at all like a rude hand signal, oh no, not at all. Of course, the logo / image used on their site is a far nicer "lion with paws full of arcane stuff", so maybe the "bird" version is an outdated one. I may have blogged about this before, I may not, who knows, I'm currently functioning (or not) in a sleep deprived daze. Is it the weekend yet? Can I go home now?

Ok, going on holiday for a month sounded like a fabulous plan, but the reality is, you get the best part of a months work backlogged for when you come back, and spend all your time trying to get that done while also keeping on top of the current stuff. I'm aiming high - by the end of this week, the mail pile should be gone....hopefully. In the meantime, a link to a story the lovely Hedgehog Librarian sent me while I was off bungee jumping in New Zealand... The Digital Repository of the National Library of Scotland (which has its very own lovely blog here ) has made a choice of technical partner for its ongoing project of creating a Digital Repository of many of the important documents from their massive (and always increasing!) collection. Also, I just realised that the NLS also has a Flickr account , uploading lots of interesting photos from their photograph collections. A great way to be able to see some of the things you wouldn't always expect a library to have. After all,...

It's a busy time for Rabbie Burns. As the National Year of Homecoming is centred around the 250th anniversary of his birth, he's got a lot of people looking closely at him and his work. So, he's been reanimated, and popped up on Twitter , tweeting poems, line by line. After the initial news reports, NTS actually posted the essential information needed for following him on Twitter: his username - ayrshirebard. They might however want to note that Twitter updates to your phone haven't been possible in the UK for many months. And now, the revived poet has also taken to blogging! Robert Burns' Letters will be posting the letters of the bard, on the anniversary of the day they were actually written. He's currently in full love-letter flow, writing to his 'Clarinda'. The content of 91 letters will be being posted, concluding in 2010, when it is hoped the National Trust for Scotland will be able to open the doors of the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. Funds ...

Did you know that Obama will be having an effect, even in Scotland ?

...got 'er 'ead chopped OFF! Well, she did in my childhood, while I viciously beheaded poor, innocent dandelions! And yesterday, the Scottish Government presented a copy of the Death Warrant for Mary to the Blairs Museum in Aberdeen, while the original will stay in Lambeth Palace in London. Hmmm....maybe time to do a little touristy sightseeing during my next trip in January? Image source

I went to look at the news on the JLSS site, and decided I'd agree to take part in the survey - I thought I might be able to give some feedback about the removal of the Library / research area, and why it should be redesigned. After all, it did say "We would greatly appreciate it if you could complete a short survey to help us improve the Journal website. Click here to have your say"... Instead, I got presented with the most random of surveys: Erm...hello? Exactly what has my home ownership status, and my hot beverage choice got to do with the website redesign, and the missing Library usefulness?!? Is someone there taking the pee? Were they scrambling to find a way to fill up SurveyMonkeys default setting of 10 questions, and threw in the tea/coffee option? Come on JLSS, you did an otherwise great redesign of the website (we're ignoring the Library 'thing' for just now), can you please not let it all down at the end with a silly, unfocussed survey?!

I think that (thanks to the Scottish Legal Newsletter ) I may have found the training course I've been looking for! " An introduction to law in contemporary Scotland " from the Open University looks like it'll cover the basics well enough...it might not go into the further depth I'd like, but it's a pretty good start! This course looks at law making in contemporary Scotland and introduces you to some specific areas of Scots law including the law relating to employment and to children. It considers the role of both the Scottish Parliament and Courts in law making. The course will be of particular interest to anyone who wants an overview of how the legal system in Scotland operates and will provide an excellent beginning to students who want to understand how modern Scotland works.

I was asked to email this out to members of the SLLG last week, and thought it was interesting enough to share: The Advocates Library’s exhibition highlighting the link between the Scottish printing trade and the practice of law in Scotland will be on show in Parliament Hall, Edinburgh , from 11 August until 27 September 2008, Monday to Friday, 9am until 4.30pm.  With the kind permission of the Lord President, the exhibition will be open to the public and will form part of the Scottish Courts programme of events in Parliament House for Doors Open Day, 27 th September 2008.  Examples from the library’s unique 18 th century collections of printed Session Papers will be displayed in addition to other items from the Library’s extensive collections.  Session Papers are documents used in the presentation of cases in the Court of Session, Scotland ’s supreme civil court.  The papers often include non-legal documentary exhibits such as drawings, plans and maps....

Bill Bell, David Finkelstein & Alistair McCleery: "Books and Society" Tue 19/08/2008 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM As Scotland celebrates 500 years of printing, editors David Finkelstein, Bill Bell and Alistair McCleery reveal the remarkable contribution to publishing and literary culture made by Scotland over the last 120 years - a period covering momentous change in writing, publishing technology, bookselling, readership and, of course, book festivals." As mentioned previously here , I went on a Scottish Law Librarians Group organised trip to an Event at the Book Festival. Despite it being all about books, it was actually reasonably difficult for the Committee to find an event at a time that would hopefully allow people to attend, and on a topic that was relevant to our jobs! The closest we could come was one on a Scottish-specific topic, in this case, the history of the Scottish publishing industry over the last few hundred years. This turned out to be a really ...

Well after all my moaning before about the National Archives of Scotland, and how slow they can be to get a document to you, I have to say, the in-person service is a different matter altogether! I spent a good chunk of 2 days last week rummaging around in there, and the staff couldn't be more helpful. From the security guard at the door to the Duty Archivist, everyone was happy to explain what they were doing, walk me through the processes and procedures, and help me find what I was looking for. Unfortunately, some time between 1968 and today, the document I was looking for was vapourised by either the Scottish Office or the Scottish Government...*sigh* But, it just goes to show - the service you receive remotely can never compete with being able to go, in person, and ask the staff for help...so thank you NAS for your great service last week!

So, even the Law Society of Scotland is feeling the effects of the downturn in the property market, announcing last week that it was staying put at Drumsheugh Gardens for now. Hell, if I'd have had a spare £5.5 million or so (although in Edinburgh the offers over premium could be 20% or more, adding a hefty chunk to that total), I'd have snapped it up in no time...I'm sure I could easily fill it with clutter in no time! :-)

Seriously, the problem with large bodies like the National Archives of Scotland is there's no pressure on them to be better, or faster, or to compete, as they're the only body that holds certain items. Which means that the speed they deal with enquiries is, just well, what ya gotta accept. Which doesn't help when you started an enquiry a week ago, they got back to you the next day for details, then the following day they tell you they have the item, and ask you to pay. You pay within an hour, and wait...and wait...and wait. 3 working days later, there's still no sign of the materials, and of course they're wanted urgently. Urgently, as in last week, when you thought you'd sorted things. *drums fingers impatiently*