A Fingertip Guide to Scots Criminal Law is a practical and concise summary of Scots criminal law. Published in a handy and accessible format, this text has become a highly regarded essential source of reference for all criminal court practitioners as well as students of criminal law. This new edition incorporates the considerable legislative changes in criminal law since publication of the last edition. All sections have been thoroughly updated to incorporate essential developments in The Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 and Scottish case law. The section on homicide has been significantly updated following the decision of Drury in 2005 and expanded to include detailed commentary on the various forms of culpable homicide; The commentary on rape has been modified due to the codification of the common law under the 2009 Sexual Relations Act; A comprehensive overview of Cadder is given shedding light on the relationship of Scots and EU law; A new section on community payback orders has been added following the 2011 law change. This text is written in a user-friendly way and includes parallel columns of commentary, case law and statute under both substantive and procedural headings. Written by experts in criminal law this well established text is an indispensable guide for every busy criminal court practitioner in Scotland.

Throughout his glittering career, Ross Harper was a major figure in Scottish law, politics, journalism and business. He was a key player in many of Scotland's most high-profile legal cases from the 1960s to the 1990s, including the Albany Drugs Case and the Glasgow Rape Case, after having ambitiously set up his own firm while still in his mid-twenties. He was President of the Law Society of Scotland and the International Bar Association, received numerous commendations for his work and acted as a political consultant for big businesses such as William Hill. He has also been active in politics throughout his adult life, campaigning tirelessly for the Conservative Party from the 1970s onwards. Harper's work, viewpoints and high profile have, inevitably, exposed him to difficult situations and brought him no shortage of rivals and enemies. And he's had his fair share of run-ins with the media too. His work has also introduced him to a wide variety of people in positions of power on all sides of the political and social spectrum, including Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, John Smith and Nelson Mandela. Now, after a life in the spotlight, Ross Harper offers deeply personal views on the law, business and journalism, examining the roots of his career and the lifelong values of his upbringing in Glasgow during the Second World War. He shares the secrets of his success and shows how he has balanced an astonishingly busy professional life with a lifelong passion for fishing and his position as a devoted family man. This is the story of one of the major figures in Scottish life of the past fifty years, told with the warmth, humour and candour that those who know him would expect.