A hit for the conference

RoS was delighted to be involved with the Law Society of Scotland’s 60th Anniversary Conference held recently at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. Not only were we an associate sponsor, we also took a stand to publicise our work on ARTL and Registers Direct, sponsored a number of legal students and previewed a new exhibition.

The RoS stand attracted a number of visitors, with questions ranging from the use of digital signatures and rollout of ARTL to accessing and searching Registers Direct as well as the impact of the new Fee Order.

The exhibition, “Foundation – the story of a city”, is RoS’s contribution to “Homecoming Scotland 2009”, www.homecomingscotland2009.com .

The exhibition will go on display to the general public in Glasgow later in the summer. Talks are currently underway regarding a suitable location for it in the city, and we will be publishing information on this later in the year.

Here are just a few comments from the legal students, sponsored by RoS, who attended the conference:

“It has been really good to get the chance to mix with members of the legal profession at this stage in my career as well as to hear from the country’s top lawyer.” (Jamie Reekie, Dundee University)

“I found it really worthwhile and informative. The workshops have given me more of an understanding of the practicalities of law.” (Sanaa Shahid, Strathclyde University)

“It was really interesting to hear Elish Angiolini talking about her work, what she does and how she sees the profession going forward. The programme was varied with lots of different themes. Definitely worthwhile attending – it has been great.” (Michelle Brannagan, Robert Gordon University)

Registers of Scotland cuts information fees

The Fees in the Registers of Scotland Amendment Order 2009 (SSI 2009/171) came into force on 31 May 2009. The order reflects the outcome of a review of information fees undertaken by the Keeper on behalf of Scottish Ministers. The guiding principle of the new Fee Order is – as now – that, overall, all information fees and charges are set on a cost recovery basis.

We have reduced the fees on a range of our information services. To view the latest Registers Update which sets out all the changes, visit ros.gov.uk/pdfs/ update25.pdf .

Turnaround time targets

The Keeper’s 2009-2010 turnaround time targets have been endorsed by Scottish Ministers:

Where it is in the Keeper’s power and is legally appropriate, to complete the registration of:

• 80% of sasine writs within 20 working days, with no writ taking longer than 40 working days;
• 80% of standard first registration applications within 70 working days; and
• 80% of dealings with whole within 30 working days, with no dealing taking longer than 100 working days.

The first report against these targets is in this month’s Journal on p 56. The final results against the 2008-2009 targets will be published once all the relevant applications have been completed or the turnaround times have elapsed.

ARTL UPDATE - as at 21 May 2009

• 16,287 ARTL transactions have taken place.

Live on ARTL

•  193 solicitors’ firms.
•  15 lenders.
•  10 local authorities.
•  8 full sign-up meetings scheduled over the next four weeks.

For up-to-date information and a full list of participating practices and companies go to: ros.gov.uk/artl