Contents
- Attendance
- Decision on Taking Business in Private
- Subordinate Legislation
- Limitation (Childhood Abuse) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Subordinate Legislation
Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 (Scottish Land Court) Order 2017 [Draft]
Agenda item 2 is consideration of an instrument that is subject to affirmative procedure—the draft Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 (Scottish Land Court) Order 2017. I welcome Annabelle Ewing, the Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs, who will speak to the instrument. She is accompanied by her Scottish Government officials; Catherine Hodgson is from the judicial sponsorship and appointments branch, and Sadif Ashraf is from the directorate for legal services. I refer members to paper 1, which is a note by the clerk, and I invite the minister to make a short opening statement.
Thank you, convener.
The purpose of the draft Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 (Scottish Land Court) Order 2017 is to transfer the Scottish Land Court to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. The SCTS will then have responsibility for the staff, information technology and services of the Scottish Land Court. The opportunity is also being taken to bring the offices of members of the Scottish Land Court, including the deputy chairman, under the remit of the Lord President. The office of chairman of the Scottish Land Court is already under the remit of the Lord President.
The Scottish Land Court deals with cases involving agriculture—primarily, with disputes relating to agricultural tenancies and crofts. As part of the on-going process of court reform, the policy intention has been to transfer the Scottish Land Court to the SCTS at an appropriate time. Following the passage of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 and the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, the SCTS now provides administrative support for Scottish courts and tribunals.
The Lord President is currently head of all the courts other than the Scottish Land Court and the Scottish tribunals. Although the main Scottish courts were administered by the Scottish Courts Administration even before the 2008 act put them under judicial control, the Scottish Land Court had always been administered separately.
The Government has consulted the Lord President and Lord Minginish, who is the chairman of the Scottish Land Court. They agree that the transfer should now take place. The SCTS has been working with the four members of staff of the Scottish Land Court who are due to transfer to the SCTS on the terms and conditions that are being offered. The Public and Commercial Services Union has also been consulted and has no concerns about the proposals. I consider that this is an appropriate time to use the order-making power in the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 to transfer the Scottish Land Court to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.
I hope to be able to answer members’ questions.
Thank you, minister. I invite questions.
The minister has set out very well the background to the draft order. A potential concern of people on the outside looking in is that the Scottish Land Court has had a specific role and is—this is certainly the feedback that I get locally—a very accessible court, which functions in such a way as to be regarded as being very sympathetic to the lay person. Can you offer assurance that how the court functions and its accessibility will remain constant throughout the process and after the transition?
Bringing the Scottish Land Court within the remit of the Lord President and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service is part of the on-going process of court reform to which I referred; it is not intended to change the day-to-day operations of the court. For example, after the move, the judicial officers of the Land Court will for the most part be part of the SCTS system of on-going education and training, welfare issues and disciplinary issues. The Land Court will sit in that overarching administrative structure.
As I said, the Lord President and Lord Minginish are content with the proposal. We also consulted interested parties, including solicitor firms that have appeared before the Land Court. We got three acknowledgements of our consultation—two from solicitor firms and one from the Faculty of Advocates—and none had substantive comments to make. I hope that that gives some reassurance.
Thank you.
If there are no further questions and the minister does not want to make closing remarks, we will move on to item 3, which is formal consideration of the motion on the affirmative instrument. The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered and reported on the draft order and had no comment to make on it. I ask the minister to move motion S5M-03909.
Motion moved,
That the Justice Committee recommends that the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 (Scottish Land Court) Order 2017 [draft] be approved.—[Annabelle Ewing]
Motion agreed to.
That concludes consideration of the draft order. The committee’s report will note and confirm the outcome of the debate. May I have the committee’s agreement to delegate to me the authority to clear the final draft of the report?
Members indicated agreement.
Thank you. I thank the minister and her officials for appearing before us today.
10:08 Meeting suspended.10:10 On resuming—