Law reform update

EU Commission Green Paper

The Society brought together representatives from Scottish Government, the legal profession and academics to discuss the proposals contained within the EU’s Green Paper on Options for Reforming EU Contract Law, on Thursday 16 December (see separate item opposite). The feedback from the meeting will be invaluable in forming the Society’s Obligations Committee’s response to the European Commission in January.

Double Jeopardy Bill

The Society gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee on this Scottish Government bill on 7 December. The Criminal Law Subcommittee believes that the rule against double jeopardy should be retained but that there should be exceptions to the rule in certain limited cases, including where new evidence has emerged which is compelling and was not available at the original trial, or when a person subsequently confesses to having committed an offence when they had previously been tried and acquitted. Any exception to the rule should not be applied retrospectively and should be limited to more serious cases tried under solemn procedure. This view towards retrospectivity was also voiced by Lord Gill in December.

Reservoirs (Scotland) Bill

The Planning and Environmental Law Subcommittee submitted a response to this bill on 25 November. The bill makes provision for the regulation of the construction, alteration and management of certain reservoirs, in particular in relation to the risk of flooding, and for the repeal and replacement of the Reservoirs Act 1975. The Society welcomed the proposal to transfer enforcement of responsibilities to SEPA rather than create a new body for reservoir safety, but noted that sufficient resources should be afforded to SEPA in order to discharge the obligations proposed.

Proceeds of Crime Act consultation

The Criminal Law Subcommittee submitted a response broadly welcoming the proposals to strengthen the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in Scotland by extending the list of criminal lifestyle offences, and also reducing the criminal benefit amount for the two other lifestyle tests from £5,000 to £1,000. However, it noted that this will create significant resource issues for both police and prosecutors.

Sexual Offences Act

The Criminal Law Subcommittee will shortly submit a response to the Sexual Offences Act (2003) (Remedial) (Scotland) Order 2010.

Scotland Bill

The Constitutional Law Committee met in December to discuss the call for evidence on the Scotland Bill. The committee will prepare a memorandum of comments on aspects of the bill ranging from competence questions through to the provision on income tax, to be submitted to the Scottish Parliament in mid-January.

Finance Bill

The UK Government has recently published draft clauses for the Finance Bill 2011, the content of which will be confirmed in the budget on 23 March before final publication on 31 March. The provisions come under the headings of personal, pensions, corporate, indirect, anti-avoidance and miscellaneous. The Society will examine the provisions, which can be found at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ finance_bill_2011.htm, with a view to submitting comments in time for the deadline of 9 February. If anyone has any comments on any of the draft provisions, please email Katie Hay at katiehay@lawscot.org.uk.

Single Market Act

The Single Market Act was adopted by the European Commission on 27 October 2010. It is not a legislative measure but a communication for consultation and comment, consisting of 50 policy proposals designed to relaunch the single market and invigorate the EU economy. The Commission aims to have a number of the key initiatives in place by 2012, the 20th anniversary of the single market. Key policy areas for the law reform department include company law and financial services, tax law, intellectual property and conflict resolution. Proposals include a review of accounting directives, a common consolidated corporate tax base and a new VAT strategy for companies operating cross-border, an EU patent, legislative proposals for the management of copyrights and orphan works, and a communication on the operation of e-commerce, including a proposal for an EU system for settlement of disputes from digital transactions. To view the Single Market Act, and any of the proposals, visit ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/.