Scottish Law Commission seeks views on areas in need of reform

The Scottish Law Commission has launched a public consultation on the law reform work that it should carry out in the future.

The commission is seeking views on which areas of Scots law are most in need of reform. Reform may be needed because the law is causing difficulties in practice, for example where the law is unfair, unclear, unduly complex or out-of-date.

The commission’s remit covers all of Scots law; it extends to reserved and devolved areas of the law.

Most of the commission’s work is carried out under programmes of law reform, approved by Scottish ministers. Each programme runs for a specified period of several years, and sets out a number of law reform projects which the commission will examine during that period.

Work carried out by the commission has resulted in major new laws passed by the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament.

The commission is now preparing its next programme of law reform, the tenth programme. This is due to start in 2018.

A number of projects under the commission’s current programme, the ninth programme of law reform, will be carried forward into the tenth programme in 2018. These are –

The Justice Secretary, Michael Matheson has also made a reference to the commission, at the request of the Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament, to undertake a review of section 53 of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003.

The commission may also continue to carry out law reform work jointly with the Law Commission for England and Wales.

The chairman of the commission, Lord Pentland, said: “We aim to recommend reforms that will achieve real practical benefits for Scottish people and Scottish businesses. We look forward to receiving suggestions about areas of Scots law that are thought to be unfair, unduly complex or outdated and in need of law reform.”.

An online consultation page is available on the commission’s website at: http://www.scotlawcom.gov.uk/. Consultees are encouraged to submit their suggestions using the online form.