Reappointment of Chair

We are pleased to announce Lady Paton’s reappointment as Chair for a further two year period starting on 1 January 2024.  This is the Scottish Government's announcement.  Welcoming the news, Lady Paton said:

"I am delighted to be re-appointed as Chair of the Scottish Law Commission for a two-year period from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2025.  In our Eleventh Programme of Law Reform (2023-27), work is continuing on Civil Remedies for Domestic Abuse, Tenements and Compulsory Owners’ Associations, Heritable Securities, Leases, Homicide, and Damages for Personal Injury.  As lead Commissioner in these latter two projects, I hope to finalise Reports and draft Bills during my two-year extension. There will also be several new projects, namely Execution of Documents, Limitation, Executry Law, and Consolidation of Nature Conservation legislation.

The Commission has recently benefited from a new procedure whereby, at the start of the current Parliamentary Session, the Scottish Government’s Programme committed to implementing the Commission’s Moveable Transactions project, and also confirmed that consideration was being given to a longer-term programme of implementing Commission reports. Further benefit has resulted from an extension of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee’s remit.  The outcome has been the achievement of much-needed law reform:  the Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Act 2023 received the Royal Assent on 13 June 2023;  the Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill reached Stage 1 of parliamentary procedure in autumn 2023;  and legislation on Judicial Factors is promised in the near future, with detailed work also beginning within Scottish Government on Termination of Leases, Contract, and Cohabitation, with a view to legislation at a later stage.  The Commission is grateful to Scottish Ministers, the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, and the Scottish Parliament, for all the work being done in implementing these welcome law reform measures.

As Chair, I look forward to contributing to the Commission’s current level of achievement, and in particular to the Commission’s significant productivity, outreach, and usefulness.”