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The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (March 2006)

Automated Registration of Title to Land (ARTL)

Family Law (Scotland) Bill

Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005

Civil Partnership Act 2004

Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003

The Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Bill (May 2000)

Maternity Leave (Dec 1999)

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 were laid before Parliament on 9th March 2006. Subject to Parliaments approval, the Regulations will come into force on 1 October 2006.

These regulations implement the age strand of Directive 2000/78 EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and vocational training.

The Regulations apply to employment and vocational training. They prohibit unjustified direct and indirect age discrimination, and all harassment and victimisation on grounds of age, of people of any age, young or old.

As well as applying to retirement they remove the upper age limit for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights, giving older workers the same rights to claim unfair dismissal or receive a redundancy payment as younger workers, unless there is a genuine retirement; allow pay and non-pay benefits to continue which depend on length of service requirements of 5 years or less or which recognise and reward loyalty and experience and motivate staff; remove the age limits for Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay and Statutory Paternity Pay, so that the legislation for all four statutory payments applies in exactly the same way to all; remove the lower and upper age limits in the statutory redundancy scheme, but leave the current age-banded system in place; provide exemptions for many age-based rules in occupational pension schemes (they are contained in Schedule 2 to the Regulations).

Automated Registration of Title to Land (ARTL)

The ARTL system is available via the internet. The ARTL project is overseen by the ARTL steering group on which sit representatives of both Law Society of Scotland and the Council of Mortgage leaders as well as representatives from other relevant Scottish Executive departments.

Following development it is expected that the ARTL system will enter a live testing phase by Autumn 2006 with an initial pilot system available to registered users in early 2007. This system will be available to all solicitors and lenders across Scotland in Spring 2007.

The majority of transactions available under ARTL will be the following:-

• Standard Security
• Dispositions
• Discharge
• Simple Assignation of Lease
• Notices of Improvement
• Repair Grants etc.
• Assignation of Single Standard Security
• Notices of Cessation of Improvement Repair Grants etc.
• Charge Orders
• Discharge of Charging Orders

ARTL brings with it several truly significant changes:-

A conveyancing transaction becomes truly paperless other than the Missives and a Mandate signed by the client.

The paperless Disposition and Standard Security will be electronically signed by the solicitor and not by the client.

Discharges will be executed electronically by the lender and in some cases by the agent on behalf of the lender.

Civil Partnership Act 2004

The government published a consultation paper "The Civil Partnership, a framework for the legal recognition of same sex couples" on 30th June 2003. A 3-month consultation period followed and the Civil Partnership Bill was announced in the Queen's Speech on 26th November 2003. The Scottish Executive announced that in the event that Civil Partnership registration was introduced in England and Wales, same sex couples should similarly be able to form a civil partnership in Scotland in order to access the comprehensive package of rights and responsibilities in both the reserved and devolved areas. On 3rd June 2004, the Scottish Parliament agreed to the inclusion of Scottish provisions in the Westminster Bill and the Civil Partnership Act 2004 received its royal assent on 18th November 2004.

The purpose of the Civil Partnership Act is to enable same sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship by forming civil partnerships, which they may do by registering as civil partners of each other, provided that several conditions are met.

(1) They are of the same sex,
(2) They are not related in a forbidden degree,
(3) Both have attained the age of 16,
(4) Neither is married or already in a civil partnership or neither is incapable of understanding the nature of a civil partnership.

The Act now allows same-sex couples access to benefits that they were previously denied. Theses beneofts include: Bereavement benefits such as Bereavement Allowance, Bereavement Payment and Widowed Parents Allowance; Adult dependant increases paid in National Insurance benefits such as Incapacity Benefit, Carer's Allowance and Retirement Pension; are jointly assessed when claiming means tested benefits such as Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit. This can be an advantage as, often, separate assessment means that more benefit is paid in total; are jointly assessed when claiming Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit

Other provision set out in the Act include: -
(1) Employment and pension benefits,
(2) Recognition under intestacy rules,
(3) Access to Fatal Accident compensation,
(4) Recognition for immigration and nationality purposes,
(5) A duty to provide reasonable maintenance for your civil partner and any children of the family. Civil partners to be assessed the same way as spouses for Child Support and equitable treatment for the purposes of Life Insurance, to name a few.

Family Law (Scotland) Bill

The Family Law (Scotland) Bill was first introduced on 7th February.The Bill was passed on the 16th December 2005 by 104 votes to 12 with six abstentions, overturning the decision made by Holyrood's justice committee last month to recommend longer waiting times for divorce - three in contested cases and 18 months if the split wasn't contested The Bills provisions include - granting parental responsibilities and rights to unmarried fathers on registration with the mother of a child's birth; regulating the rules of divorce and, in particular, reducing the non-cohabitation period required for divorce; updating the law on Matrimonial Interdicts; introducing the concept of domestic interdicts for co-habitants and introducing greater legal protection for co-habitants. At the time of writing the date for the Royal assent was not known.

Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005

The Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Bill was introduced to Parliament on December 17, 2004, formally proposing that smoking should be banned in enclosed public places such as workplaces, pubs and restaurants.The Bill was approved by MSPs on June 30, 2005, by a majority of 97 to 17 with one abstention after consultation on possible changes in the law attracted more than 53,000 responses. The findings showed that a large majority, 82%, thought that further action needed to be taken to reduce exposure to second-hand smoke. 80% of respondents said they would support a law creating smoke-free enclosed public places, with few exemptions.It received Royal Assent on August 5, 2005, and the new Act is now due to come into force on March 26, 2006.

Part 1 makes provisions for a ban on smoking in certain wholly or substantially enclosed places.
It creates a number of new offences:

(a) permitting others to smoke in non-smoking premises.
(b) smoking in non-smoking premises.
(c) failing to display warning notices in non-smoking premises.

It also sets out the powers of enforcement officers to enter non-smoking premises and creates an offence of failing without reasonable excuse to give one's name and address on request by an authorised officer. Another change that the Bill has introduced to Scotland is the power that allows Scottish Ministers to raise by Order the ages specified, currently age 16 (in Section 18 of the Children's and Young Persons Scotland Act 1937, which includes the legal age for tobacco purchase).

The Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003

This act received Royal assent in April 2003. It created two new types of tenancies:

Limited Duration Tenancy and Short Limited Duration Tenancy.

Limited Duration Tenancy:-
A lease of land for not less than 15 years is a LDT. If the land is let for more than 5 years, but less than 15 years it becomes a tenancy for 15 years.

Short Limited Duration Tenancy:-
A Short Limited Duration Tenancy is a lease of land for a term of not more than 5 years. There are severe consequences if the Tenant is not removed at the end of the term.

a) Where the Tenant remains in occupation of the land after the expiry of a term of less than 5 years with the consent of the Landlord, the tenancy continues to have effect as if it were for a term of 5 years.

b) Where a Tenant remains in occupation of the land under a SLDT of 5 years with the consent of the Landlord, then the tenancy has effect as if it were a tenancy of 15 years commencing at the expiry of the 5 years and then becomes a LDT.

c) If after the termination of the SLDT or removal of the Tenant the Landlord lets same land to the same Tenant within 1 year of the last tenancy then the expiry term of the earlier tenancy counts as the expired term of the further tenancy. If this results in the SLDT being for a term of more than 5 years then the new tenancy has effect for a term of 15 years and it becomes an LDT.

Changes to Jurisdiction

The Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 Act has transferred the whole jurisdiction of authority under the l991 Act including sheep, stock valuations to the Land Court with the result that all disputes between Landlord and Tenant, whether under the l991 Act Leases or under the new Leases introduced by 2003 Act are now referred to the Land Court. Although parties may not contract out of the 2003 Act provisions it is to agree to private arbitration.

The Land Court has been given extended jurisdiction under the 1991 Act to:-

(a) Determine whether or not agricultural tenancies exist
(b) To determine any questions or differences between Landlord and Tenant,
which was the original arbiter's jurisdiction.
(c) Any claim by the Landlord or Tenant against others which arises under the
l991 Act, customs or agreement or in or out of the tenancy, and
(d) Any other issue of fact or law related to the tenancy which the parties recently require to be determined and this includes anything relating to the Right to Buy under Part II of the 2003 Act except in relation to price.

Rights Given to a 1991 Tenant by the 2003 Act:-

A tenant of a 1991 lease, including general partner under a Limited Partnership Lease may register an interest in acquiring the land comprised in the tenancy by registering the interest in the Register of Community Interest in Land. There is a right of Appeal to the Land Court against the registration. The registration only lasts until rescinded or for five years or until the tenancy is terminated. Unless a transfer is an exempt transfer the Tenant has to be given the first refusal of a right to buy.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 was passed by the Scottish Parliament on January 23 and received Royal Assent on February 25, 2003. The Act consists of 3 main parts. These are:-

Part 1 - Right of responsible access.
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 establishes a statutory right of responsible access to land and inland waters for:
(A) outdoor recreation,
(B) crossing land, and
(C) some educational and commercial purposes.

Part 2 - Community right to buy.
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 Act provides an opportunity for communities to register an interest in and then buy land following indication from the landowner that he/she wishes to sell registered land.

Part 3 - Crofting Community right to buy.
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 enables crofting communities to set up a crofting community body (CCB) to undertake the purchase of croft land from landowners, together with sporting rights associated with that land. They may also acquire the mineral rights and salmon fishings on and contiguous with the land.

The island of Arran has recently been affected by this legislation as it has previously been excluded. However residents with smallholdings on the island can now convert to crofting status that will allow new crofts to be created on the island, hopefully to be occupied by local people who currently do not have access to land.

The Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Bill.

The Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on May 3rd, 2000 and received Royal Assent on June 9, 2000. The high profile Bill (available here) remained substantially unchanged during its passage through the Parliament and gives effect to the Scottish Law Commission's Report on the Abolition of the Feudal System (1999 Scot. Law Com. No. 168). The Bill forms part of the Scottish Executive's wide-ranging plan for land reform in Scotland set out in Land Reform - Proposals for Legislation (SE/1999/1) and the Land Reform Action Plan published in August 1999 (available here). The next stage will be the publication of the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill which will contain measures to provide a community right to buy, a crofting right to buy and a right of responsible access to land. This is now expected to be published in early summer 2000.

The Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Bill abolishes the feudal system of land tenure in Scotland and replaces it with a system of absolute ownership. It abolishes feudal superiorities and the rights of a superior to enforce feudal real burdens, although there are provisions for converting certain feudal burdens into non-feudal burdens. Crown rights and prerogative powers other than those held as a feudal superior are preserved.

One important change made to the Bill is that Part 4 dealing with real burdens will not come into force on the granting of the Royal Assent but at a later date on an order from the appropriate Scottish Minister. This is to allow the proposal form of real burdens to catch up with the Bill. The provision on real burdens in this Bill are inter-related to the proposed reform of real burdens generally, which is currently being finalised by the Scottish Law Commission. It is expected that their report and draft Bill will be completed during the summer. The Scottish Executive plan to introduce a Bill reforming real burdens in session 2000/2001.

Maternity Leave.

The Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999 SI3312/99 introduce changes to statutory leave with effect from December 1999. The new provisions only apply to women whose expected week of childbirth (EWC) falls on or after 30 April 2000. At the moment all woman who are pregnant are entitled to 14 weeks Maternity Leave Period (MLP) and those who have been employed for two years or more at the 11th week before their EWC are entitled to Extended Maternity Absence (EMA) entitling them to return to work up to 29 weeks after the birth of their child.

The main changes made by the 1999 Regulation are as follows:-

Ordinary Maternity Leave

• MLP is replaced with Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML).
• OML is the minimum period of maternity leave to which all women are entitled and will increase from 14 weeks to 18 weeks for women whose EWC is on or after 30th April 2000.
• In order to be entitled to OML at least 21 days prior to the date on which the women intends to start her OML she must notify the employer: That she is pregnant - notification of this need not be in writing; of the EWC and of the date on which the OML is to commerce - this must be in writing only if the employer so requests.
• Whilst on OML a woman is entitled to the benefit of the terms and conditions of employment which would have been applied to her had she not been absent with the exception of remuneration. Remuneration is defined only as sums payable by way of wages or salary.
• There is no need for the employee to notify the employer of her return from OML. If the employee wishes to return earlier than the expiry of the OML she must give the employer 21 days notice of such early return.

Additional Maternity Leave

• EMA is now called Additional Maternity Leave (AML).
• AML applies to women whose EWC is on or after the 30th April 2000 and who have at least one year's service with their employer at the beginning of the 11th week before their EWC.
• The AML period is a maximum of 29 weeks from the date of birth of the child.
• EMA entitled women to return to work up to 29 weeks after the date of birth of their child. AML gives women the right to 29 weeks leave after the date of birth of their child.
• During AML the employee:- Is entitled to the benefits of the terms and conditions of employment which would have been applied if she had not been absent, with the exception of remuneration; Is bound by the obligations arising under those terms and conditions; and Is entitled to return from leave to the job in which she was employed before her absence or, if it is not reasonably practicable for the employer to permit her to return to that job, another job which is both suitable for her and appropriate for her to do in the circumstances.

AML - Notification Requirements

• AML will commence on the day after the last day of OML.
• There is no requirement for the employee to inform the employer before the OML commences that she intends to exercise her right to AML.
• The employer can write to the employee no earlier than 21 days before the end of her OML asking her to notify her employer in writing of:- The date when her child was born; Whether she intends to return to work after AML. The employee is to respond to that request within 21 days. If the employee wishes to return early from AML she must give 21 days' notice of such return to her employer.
• Employees at the moment have the right to postpone their return to work after extended maternity absence for a period of four weeks if they are unable to attend work due to medical reasons. For employees whose EWC is on or after 30th April 2000 and who exercise the right to AML will not be entitled to postpone their return to work in this way.

It should be noted that this is a brief outline of some of the main changes to maternity leave but reference should be made to the 1999 Regulations for further detail.