Land reform in Scotland is the ongoing process by which the ownership of land, its distribution and the law which governs it is modified,
reformed
Reform is beneficial change
Reform may also refer to:
Media
* ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang
* Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group
* ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine
*''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...
and modernised by
property
Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
and
regulatory
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
law.
Land ownership in Scotland
Scotland's land issues are rooted in two processes that happened in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially in the
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...
:
*
Enclosure
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
s: landlords took control of the common lands under their regime, made them their private property, and excluded their tenants from using them.
*
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860.
The first phase resulte ...
: many landlords forcibly evicted their tenant farmers from their lands, in order to use their lands for more profitable businesses. Other Gaels were transplanted to smaller plots on less productive land, or forced to leave by increasing rents. The Clearances created strong anti-landlord sentiments among the displaced and remaining inhabitants.
* A result of these processes was a severe
concentration of land ownership
Concentration of land ownership refers to the ownership of land in a particular area by a small number of people or organizations. It is sometimes defined as additional concentration beyond that which produces optimally efficient land use.
Distri ...
that continues today. According to some estimates,
432 families own half the private lands in Scotland, and just over 1200 landowners hold 2/3 of Scotland's lands.
The
Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886
The Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 ( gd, Achd na Croitearachd 1886) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created legal definitions of ''crofting parish'' and ''crofter'', granted security of land tenure to crofters and ...
gave crofters in the north and west of Scotland substantial security of occupation of their crofts. Further legislation since means that the landlords of crofts have very limited rights and being the tenant of a croft is a much more valuable right than being the owner. (Crofting Act 1993)
The Scotland land reform aims to balance the land-ownership situation by:
* Securing the rights of access to common land,
* Protecting the rights of tenants and small farmers, and
* Helping small farmers and communities to buy land from large landowners.
Devolution and Labour Government (1997–2007)
In 1997 a
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
Government was elected to Westminster on a manifesto which included both devolution and land reform. Upon election, a Land Reform Policy Group (LRPG) was established under the chairmanship of
Lord Sewel, then
Scottish Office
The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the e ...
Minister of State, who was also tasked with steering devolution legislation though the house of lords. Policy proposals and an extensive public consultation were published by the LRPG in 1999, the same year that the
first elections to the newly devolved Scottish parliament returned a Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition. Following the momentum of the 1997 and 1999 elections, devolution and the LRPG's proposals, land reform progressed rapidly in the
first session of the Scottish parliament with bills introduced to abolish Scotland's feudal land tenure system and a draft land reform bill introduced in 2000. The same year, the
Scottish Land Fund
The Scottish Land Fund (SLF) was founded in 2000, as a part of land reform in Scotland. Its goal is to help communities buy their land from their landlords.
The SLF was capitalized by the UK Lottery-founded New Opportunities Fund. The initial fun ...
was created and in 2001 began allocating its £10 million budget of national lottery funding to assist rural communities to purchase land.
Abolition of Feudal Tenure
The first piece of land reform legislation in the 21st century, the
Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000
The Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 was a land reform enforced by an Act of the Scottish Parliament that was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 3 May 2000, and received Royal Assent on 9 June 2000.
Provisions
The Act of ...
was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 3 May 2000 and received royal assent on 9 June the same year. The act formed the core of a three part reform of Scottish property law, alongside the
Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003
The Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. It came into force on 28 November 2004, and is one element of a three part land reform abolishing feudal tenure and modernising Scottish property law, the other two e ...
and
Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004
The Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which is the main source of the law of the tenement, which regulates tenement flats.
The Act is part of a package of land reforms together with the Abolition of Feudal Te ...
. The main provisions of the act included the abolition of feudal superiorities and tenure, to be replaced by a system of outright ownership in which those who had been vassals became outright owners. This necessitated the extinction of superiors’ rights to collect feu duties, for which they were entitled to compensation in the form of a single payment of a size that, when invested at an annual rate of 2.5%, would yield interest equal to the former feu duty. However, as Scotland's remaining feu duties had been fixed many years previously, inflation meant that by the time of the act's passing their value was, in most cases, effectively nominal. The act also extinguished superiors’ rights to enforce real burdens, conditions on the holding of land, retaining only those conditions enforceable by neighbouring land owners or by certain legal bodies on public policy grounds. The legal basis of real burdens and title conditions was then reformulated in the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003. The end of feudal tenure simplified titles to land, while the subsequent Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 modernised the types of interests and conditions that can be attached to those titles. Finally, common law surrounding tenements was then reformed in light of these changes under the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004, completing the abolition of Scotland's feudal property system.
The 2003 Acts
2003 saw two important pieces of legislation make their way through the Scottish parliament; the
Land Reform (Scotland) Act
Land reform in Scotland is the ongoing process by which the ownership of land, its distribution and the law which governs it is modified, reformed and modernised by property and regulatory law.
Land ownership in Scotland
Scotland's land issues ...
and the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act. The Land Reform (Scotland) Act has three parts, with provisions regarding three areas of land rights in Scotland; the creation of a legal framework for
land access, the community right to buy and crofting community right to buy. The first part formalises the tradition in Scotland of unhindered access to open countryside. It creates a framework for responsible access to land and inland water, provided that care was taken not to cause damage or interfere with activities including farming and game stalking. Access rights apply to any non-motorised activities, including walking, cycling, horse-riding and wild camping. They also allow access on inland water for canoeing, rowing, sailing and swimming. This aspect of the Act follows the distinctive approach set out in the
Scottish Outdoor Access Code
The Scottish Outdoor Access Code provides detailed guidance on the exercise of the ancient tradition of universal access to land in Scotland, which was formally codified by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. Under Scots law everyone has the ri ...
, specifying the rights and responsibilities of land managers, countryside users and recreational managers. Similar legislation was passed for
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
with the
Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37), known informally as the CRoW Act or "Right to Roam" Act is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament affecting England and Wales which came into force on 30 November 2000.
Right to roam
The Act imp ...
.
The second part of the act establishes the community right to buy, allowing communities with populations of up to 10,000 to register an interest in land, entitling them to first right of refusal should the owner put the land up for sale or intend to transfer ownership, provided a representative community body can be formed to carry out the purchase.
Finally, the third part establishes the crofting community right to buy which allows crofting communities to purchase crofts and associated land from existing landowners. It differs from the community right to buy in that it can be exercised at any time, regardless of whether the land has been put on the market, allowing crofting communities to purchase land even in the absence of a willing seller.
The Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 amends the law relating to agricultural holdings under the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1991. It provides for new forms of agricultural tenancies and makes provision in relation to these tenancies, the right of certain agricultural tenants to buy land and the use of certain agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. It makes special provision for certain agricultural tenancies where the tenant is a partnership and for the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants arising under agricultural tenancies.
SNP Government (2007–present)
The May
2007 Scottish Parliament election
The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. Local elections in Scotland fe ...
resulted, for the first time, in a
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
. The first term of SNP government was marked by a lack of action on land reform. However, following re-election in
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, this time with a parliamentary majority, land reform returned to the government agenda with the Scottish Government establishing the Land Reform Review Group in 2012 and First Minister
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...
in 2013 announcing a target of seeing 1 million acres of land in community ownership by 2020. The Land Reform Review Group was given the task of identifying how land reform would enable rural and urban communities to have a stake in the ownership, governance, management and use of land, assist in the acquisition and management of that land and promote new relationships between land, people, economy and environment in Scotland. Its final report, published in May 2014, recommended policies to modernise and diversify land ownership in Scotland and encourage sustainable development, some of which would form the basis of the
Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015
The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. The act is notable for expanding the Community Right to Buy established by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 to include urban communities and for introducing ne ...
and
Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which continues the process of land reform in Scotland following the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. It is notable for granting Scottish ministers the power to f ...
. During this period the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012 introduced changes to the
conveyancing
In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts ...
system in Scotland, with the aim of having all land in Scotland registered under the
Land Register of Scotland within 10 years. Prior to the act, entry of land into the register would be prompted by a sale but other transfers of land would not prompt first entry. The act expanded the triggers for first entry to include any transfer of property or the signing of a long lease in order to accelerate the transition from the antiquated deed based Register of Sassines to the modernised map based Land Register.
The Salvesen v Riddell case (2012–2013)
In 2012, a section of the Agricultural Holdings Act was challenged and suspended by the
UK Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (initialism: UKSC or the acronym: SCOTUK) is the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom for all civil cases, and for criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. As the Unite ...
.
The trigger for this ruling was an appeal by Salvesen, the owner of Peaston Farm near
Ormiston
Ormiston is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, near Tranent, Humbie, Pencaitland and Cranston, located on the north bank of the River Tyne at an elevation of about .
The village was the first planned village in Scotland, founded in 1735 ...
. The Riddells were tenants in this farm and Section 72 of the 2003 Act on a fixed term "limited partnership " tenancy. The original Bill in the Scottish Parliament limited the ability of landowners to terminate the tenancies of their tenants on such tenancies. Initially, the start date of this restriction was set to 4 February 2003. This led many landlords, including Salvesen, to terminate the tenancies of their tenants the day before – 3 February 2003. A later amendment to section 72 retroactively set the start date of the restrictions to 16 September 2002, which made Salvesen's termination notice ineffective, so that instead of the tenancy being for fixed period, it could become tenancy that could last indefinitely after the end of the agreed period, thus completely altering the original deal between them.
Salvesen applied to the
Land Court
Land court or land claims court is a type of court which is charged with dealings over cases involving land titles and for disputes between landlords and tenants relating to agricultural tenancies. The exact field of jurisdiction varies by country ...
, which repealed his application. He then appealed to the Court of Session and obtained permission to apply to the UK Supreme Court. His main claim was that Section 72 is incompatible with his property rights, the rights guaranteed to him by
Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights
Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights is the first article of the European Convention on Human Rights. It states that "The High Contracting Parties shall secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in ...
. The Supreme Court unanimously allowed the appeal. It found that Mr. Salvesen's A1P1 rights were violated by section 72(10) of the 2003 Act and that the provision was outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament under the
Scotland Act 1998
The Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legislated for the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament with tax varying powers and the Scottish Government (then Scottish Executive). It was on ...
.
Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015
The
Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015
The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. The act is notable for expanding the Community Right to Buy established by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 to include urban communities and for introducing ne ...
, marked the first major piece of land reform legislation to be passed under the SNP government. Its provisions covered different areas pertaining to community empowerment and public participation in policy and planning, including several related directly to land. The most important of these was the extension of the Community Right to Buy to communities of any size, including, for the first time, those in urban areas. It also introduced a new community right to buy land which is abandoned, neglected or causing harm to the environmental wellbeing of the community. Similar to the 2003 Act's crofting community right to buy, this new right does not require a willing seller. Rather, Scottish ministers may compel a landowner to sell to communities with a registered interest, if they deem the sale likely to contribute to sustainable local development.
Further provisions granted community bodies the right to request to purchase, lease, manage or use land and buildings held by local authorities, Scottish ministers and other Scottish public bodies, of which relevant authorities are required to create and maintain a publicly available register. The Act reformed
Common Good Property, requiring local authorities to establish and maintain registers of all common good property held by them and to inform and consult local community bodies before any change of use or disposal of common good property. Allotments, updates and simplifies legislation on allotments.
It also set a requirement for local authorities to take steps to provide
allotments should waiting lists exceed certain lengths and strengthened protections for allotments, regulated rents and allowed tenants to sell food produced on allotments on a not for profit basis. The act required that local authorities develop food growing strategies, including the identification of land that may be used as allotment sites or potential land for community cultivation.
It has been found that the Scottish approach to
community empowerment and localism marks an example of policy divergence from the rest of the UK but that significant challenges remain in how to ensure a shared strategy; shared resources; and shared accountability.
Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016
In 2013
Richard Lochhead
Richard Neilson Lochhead (born 24 May 1969) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who is Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work and has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Moray since 2006. He was previou ...
, then
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment
, insignia =
, image = Official portrait of rural affairs secretary Mairi Gourgeon.jpg
, incumbent = Mairi Gougeon
, incumbentsince = 20 May 2021
, style = Cabinet Secretary (within parliament) Rural Affairs Secretary (informal) Scottish ...
, announced the launch of the Agricultural Holdings Review, which would examine the situation of land ownership and use, tenant-owner relationships, and all of the relevant legislation. The Review published its final report in January 2015, and the recommendations were put out to consultation.
Following the responses to the consultation the
Scottish Government presented the ''Land Reform (Scotland) Bill'' to the
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
on 22 June 2015. The Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 16 March 2016, and received Royal Assent on 22 March 2016 becoming
Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which continues the process of land reform in Scotland following the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. It is notable for granting Scottish ministers the power to f ...
.
The most radical and controversial provision of the act was the creation of the Community Right to Buy for Sustainable Development. This permitted
Scottish Ministers to approve the purchase of privately owned land by a community body with a registered interest. Like the Crofting Community Right to Buy and the Community Right to Buy abandoned or derelict land, the Community Right to Buy for Sustainable Development does not require a willing seller but allows ministers to compel landowners to sell if they decide that the sale will further sustainable development in the area. Community bodies may also register an interest in allowing a third party to purchase land on the same basis.
This new Community Right to Buy was not the only provision of the Act. The Act required that the Scottish Government produce a 'Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement', setting out its objectives for land reform and to establish a
Scottish Land Commission
The Scottish Land Commission ( gd, Coimisean Fearainn na h-Alba) was established by the Scottish Government following the passage of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 by the Scottish Parliament; the Commission also incorporates the work of the ...
to take forward the land reform process and prepare a strategic plan, for the approval of
Scottish Ministers. Other provisions of the act included new regulations to require persons who control land to be identified, with information obtained to appear in the Land Register of Scotland; the removal of sporting rights exemption from rates, are to be re-valued; and further powers for
Scottish Natural Heritage
NatureScot ( gd, NàdarAlba), which was formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for the country's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and ...
to control deer management. It also makes provision for notice and consultation where core paths are to be amended.
Further provisions of the Act pertain to agricultural tenancies including new protections for tenant farmers against eviction, the introduction of a modernised limited duration tenancy with greater rights for tenants relative to landowners and the widening of eligible assignees and inheritors of tenancies. Additionally, tenants under the 1991 Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act are now presumed to have registered their right to buy.
Since 2012 statistics for agricultural land occupation have been published on an annual basis for Scotland by the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers and the 2019 figures indicate low levels of letting activity and that much relet land is bare land without buildings or investment by the landlord.
Criticism
Criticism by landlords
In August 2013, landowners including the
Duke of Roxburghe
The Duke of Roxburghe () is a title in the peerage of Scotland created in 1707 along with the titles ''Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford'', ''Earl of Kelso'' and ''Viscount Broxmouth''. John Ker, 5th Earl of Roxburghe became the first holder ...
expressed concerns about the work of the Land Reform Review Group and the focus on community ownership. The landowners stated that private ownership brought efficiency and greater protection for
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
from development of land. Also, there were other social, economic, and environmental benefits to private ownership of Scottish land. The Duke of Roxburghe raised concerns specifically about the economic impacts, and the impact on the agricultural sector, saying:
Many other landlords opposed the passage of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016. Mark Coombs, the estate manager of the Queensberry Estate, owned by the
10th Duke of Buccleuch, stated that "there are also concerns if the purpose of changing the ownership is simply to allow another party … to carry out the same activity as is currently being undertaken by the existing owner as this strikes at the essence of ownership rights and suggests a clear move towards a more collectivist political view which is not representative of the body politic of Scotland." Thus hurting the property rights of the landowners since it strips them of control of their property.
David Johnstone, chairman of Scottish Land and Estates, said the proposal could lead to land not being made available to let, and hurting the tenant farming sector. Johnstone said: "What you are doing is giving a tenant a stake in the capital value of the farm. If the landlord doesn’t have the ability to pay, then the farm never comes back... That has got to have a knock on effect in the confidence of anyone who might wish to come to let land or is letting land at the moment."
Seafield and Strathspey Estates argued that land concentration is not a bad thing, as it may lead to more efficient management. Seafield and Strathspey Estates is a enterprise which includes salmon beats on the
River Spey
The River Spey (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Spè) is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the eighth longest river in the United Kingdom, as well as the second longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is important for salmon fishi ...
, and is managed on behalf of the family of the
Earl of Seafield
Earl of Seafield is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1701 for James Ogilvy, who in 1711 succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Findlater. The earldoms of Findlater and Seafield continued to be united until 1811, when the earldom ...
. It said landowners were being blamed for the inefficiencies of local and central government. "There is a myth presented by individuals sponsoring land reform in Scotland that 'too many acres are owned by too few individuals.' It may be true that 'many acres are owned by few individuals' but there is very little evidence presented to show that this is a bad thing".
Criticism by Scottish Parliament
The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill was criticised during its passage by the
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee of the Scottish Parliament on the basis that it granted a significant power to
Scottish Minister to implement much of the details of the Act through
secondary legislation
Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative democra ...
and delegated powers. Turcan Connell identified concerns around the implementation of the Act and the amount of scrutiny the detailed law would receive.
Recommendations by legal experts
Several parts of the Bill have been criticized as follows:
* The criteria for community buyout (s.47) are too demanding. There are double criteria: significant benefit from the transfer, and significant harm from non-transfer. Each one of these criteria alone should be sufficient.
* The upper bound of 10 years on tenancy (part 10, s.74) is too short and hurts the rights of the tenants.
* The paragraphs on transparency and accountability (parts 3–4, s.35-36) are too weak: there are no sanctions on refusing to give information about the landowner, and there is no obligation to give information on the real person owning the land (the real landowner often hides behind a "shell company").
Land-reform activists claim that the current reform is insufficient as several important amendments were voted down by SNP and Conservative backbenchers, including:
* Land cap – restricting the amount of land that one individual can own.
* Preventing land ownership via offshore tax havens. Andy Wightman, the land reform spokesperson for the Scottish Greens and MSP candidate for Lothian, revealed that companies owned by the Buccleuch Estates used tax havens in the Cayman Islands. He said that "The Green bid to clamp down on the use of tax havens goes to the heart of understanding who owns Scotland. As we have seen this week with the uncovering of the complex corporate affairs of the Buccleuch Estates, there is an urgent need to ensure transparency in who profits from Scottish land."
Criticism by PhD students
In a 2016 article in the journal of the
Law Society of Scotland
The Law Society of Scotland is the professional governing body for Scottish solicitors. It promotes excellence among solicitors through the support and regulation of its members. It also promotes the interests of the public in relation to the ...
, Douglas Maxwell claims the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill contains poorly-defined terms such as "sustainable development" and "communities" which may place the bill in conflict with international human rights laws, particularly the
ECHR Protocol 1, article 1
The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically h ...
.
Community focus
Land reform in Scotland is unusual in its emphasis on
community land ownership, with the Scottish government adopting the target of seeing 1 million acres of land under community ownership by 2020.
Most other land reforms have focused on giving land ownership rights to individual farmers. In contrast, the Land Reform (Scotland) Acts of 2003 and 2016 grant a collective right-to-buy to entire communities living in a geographical area.
See also
*
Scottish Land Court
The Scottish Land Court is a Scottish court of law based in Edinburgh with subject-matter jurisdiction covering disputes between landlords and tenants relating to agricultural tenancies, and matters related to crofts and crofters. The Scotti ...
*
Lands Tribunal for Scotland
The Lands Tribunal for Scotland is a tribunal with jurisdiction over land and property in Scotland, relating to title obligations, compulsory purchase and other private rights. The Tribunal was established under the Lands Tribunal Act 1949, wh ...
*
Registers of Scotland
Registers of Scotland (RoS) is the non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government responsible for compiling and maintaining records relating to property and other legal documents. They currently maintain 20 public registers. The official re ...
*
Scottish Land Restoration League
The Scottish Land Restoration League was a Georgism, Georgist political party.
History
In the 1880s, enclosure was still in process in the Scottish Highlands, and resistance to it often received support from radicals around Britain and Ireland. ...
*
Highland Land League
The first Highland Land League ( gd, Dionnasg an Fhearainn) emerged as a distinct political force in Scotland during the 1880s, with its power base in the country's Highlands and Islands. It was known also as the Highland Land Law Reform Associat ...
*
Scottish Land Fund
The Scottish Land Fund (SLF) was founded in 2000, as a part of land reform in Scotland. Its goal is to help communities buy their land from their landlords.
The SLF was capitalized by the UK Lottery-founded New Opportunities Fund. The initial fun ...
*
List of community buyouts in Scotland
This is an incomplete list of areas of land under community ownership in Scotland. It includes areas purchased in community buyouts, as well as land gifted or transferred for a nominal fee.
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 introduced rights f ...
*
Right of public access to the wilderness
The freedom to roam, or "everyman's right", is the general public's right to access certain public or privately owned land, lakes, and rivers for recreation and exercise. The right is sometimes called the right of public access to the wilderness ...
*
Community ownership Community-Managed assets or organizations are those that are owned and controlled through some representative mechanisms that allow a community to influence their operation or use and to enjoy the benefits arising.
Benefits of ownership in infrastr ...
*
Community Land Scotland
Community Land Scotland is a charity and membership organisation for community landowners and aspiring community landowners. It was founded in 2010 to represent the interests of community landowners, promote legislation which empowers communities ...
*
Land raid
A land raid was a form of political protest in rural Scotland, primarily in the Highlands.
History
A land raid was a form of political protest in rural Scotland, primarily in the Highlands. Land raiders threatened to seize, or seized, land which ...
References
External links
Rural landon Scottish Government website
Scottish Outdoor Access Codeon www.outdooraccess-scotland.com
The Mountaineering Council of Scotland — Know the Code*
{{UK legislation