News
Changes to Prescription Law in Scotland – What Does it Mean for Me?
On 1 June 2022, two significant sections of the Prescription (Scotland) Act 2018 came into force and modernised the law of prescription in Scotland. As a result of these changes, many claims that were due to prescribe (timebar) on or after 1 June 2022 have been given a new lease of life and, simultaneously, it now becomes harder for a defender to argue that a claim is out of time. The question of whether a claim prescribed prior to 1 June 2022 is likely to become a hot topic in the Scottish Courts.
Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land: a new way of seeking transparency of ownership and control of property in Scotland.
The Scottish Parliament has recently introduced a development that seeks to improve public transparency in relation to those individuals who have a degree of control regarding decision-making and land. Section 39of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) Regulations 2021 – coming into force 1 April 2022 – has established a new register, the Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land (the RCI for short), which shall narrate how the new property law framework can be complied with.
Proposals for Law Reform – Termination of Commercial Leases in Scotland
The Lease (Automatic Continuation etc) (Scotland) Bill
Introduction
In 2018, The Scots Law Commission commenced its 10th programme of law reform, which includes a review of certain aspects the law relating to commercial leases. The topic was deemed too extensive to be examined within a single project and so, the SLC are focusing in on areas most fraught with ambiguity (ambiguity and uncertainty being two of the primary factors that lead to increased legal costs and also discourage investment).
It is therefore not surprising to note that the first bill to be published by the SLC under the commercial lease review focuses on the termination of leases at lease expiry.