A special "cold case" unit is to be set up to tackle Scotland's unsolved murders and other serious crimes.
Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland said the specialist unit would review unsolved cases to identify those which merit a fresh investigation.
New forensic techniques, including DNA, improved ballistics and fingerprint databases will be used.
Mr Mullholland said: "Justice will pursue down the years those who have so far evaded detection for their crimes."
French authorities will utilise a Brazilian DNA database to aid with the identification of recently recovered bodies from the wreckage of Air France flight 447.
The news came on Wednesday from the affected families’ spokesman Nelson Marinho, whose son was among the 228 people that perished in the Atlantic went the flight went down in bad weather two years ago just hours after departing from Rio de Janeiro.
Britain's top policeman has described online attacks by the computer hacking group LulzSec as "extraordinarily significant and deeply worrying" following the arrest of an Essex teenager believed to have been a "significant" figure in the escalating cyberwar.
The Supreme Court has abolished the immunity of expert witnesses from civil actions relating to the evidence they give in court.Experts have enjoyed this immunity for over 400 years.
Absolute privilege will still protect experts from libel actions and general immunity will be retained by all other witnesses.
Hart Brown Partner Marek Bednarczyk looks at how far we can go in protecting our property and whether we have a Duty of Care to burglars
Just recently there has been national press coverage on the subject of shed owners being warned by the Police that wire mesh on windows could hurt burglars. Understandably, law abiding citizens who have been the target of such burglaries are exasperated and dismayed at the thought of being sued by burglars in such circumstances. One resident of Tatsfield Village in Surrey was apparently advised by the police that he needed to be careful when re-enforcing the windows on his shed with wire mesh, because “thieves can actually sue you if they get hurt”.
