Chamber and committees

The estimate in paragraph 324 of the Explanatory Notes to the Land Reform Bill, to which the question refers, relates to the compulsory purchase powers to be found in sections 32(3) and 69(2) of the bill.

The Scottish Executive has no reason to collect such information and has not done so. In any case this is information that can only be readily established through local enquiry. In our view most salmon fishing proprietors will already know whether their salmon fishings are liable to fall within the definition of "eligible croft land". For those that do not it should be relatively straightforward to establish the circumstances of individual salmon fishings on a case by case basis by making local enquiries. A table sent to the Justice 2 Committee on 14 February 2002 listed all the Scottish river systems that are believed to hold salmon and indicated where parts of particular systems were known to run across croft land.

The existence of adequate compensation provisions does not provide the justification for the use of compulsory purchase powers. The use of such powers is justified by the contribution they make to the delivery of public policy objectives in the public interest. In such circumstances the use of compulsory purchase powers is acceptable provided there is adequate compensation.

Where a salmon fishing abuts croft land it is intended that only the part of the salmon fishing property which actually abuts the croft land should be capable of being acquired through the crofting community right to buy.

Under Section 12 of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1971 the First Minister may establish an investigation into the fitness for office of any sheriff. During such an investigation the sheriff may be suspended from office. If the First Minister receives a report to the effect that a sheriff is unfit he may make an order removing the sheriff from office. The order would be subject to the approval of the Scottish Parliament.

Sheriffs are independent of the Executive and there is no formal assessment of performance. Complaints about performance may be investigated in the manner described in the answer given to question S1W-27835 today.

Training is not compulsory although the practice is for all new members of the Judiciary to attend induction training at the time of their first appointment. Training programmes are organised and run by the independent Judicial Studies Committee which is funded by my department. The programme has been extended in recent years to include refresher training for experienced people and I am advised that substantial numbers of sheriffs attend training events.

It is open to parties in a case to appeal against a decision of a sheriff to a higher court. If litigants wish to register a complaint about the actings of a sheriff they may write to the Sheriff Principal of the relevant sheriffdom or to the Judicial Appointments Division of the Scottish Executive Justice Department, Hayweight House, 23 Lauriston Street, Edinburgh EH3 9DQ.

No such research has been undertaken or commissioned by the Scottish Executive nor do we believe such research is needed. We are satisfied that any temporary uncertainties created by those who oppose the legislation will be resolved once the legislation is enacted. Once the minimal risks to owners are properly understood, the market will ensure that there is no long-term impact.

The Scottish Executive does not accept that the implementation of legislative provisions for a crofting community right to buy as proposed in Part 3 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will have an adverse impact on the market value of salmon fishings, sporting rights and mineral rights. Consequently we have no plans to pay compensation to owners of such holdings.