Book reviews

The Annotated Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010

Fraser Davidson, Hew Dundas & David Bartos

PUBLISHER: W Green
ISBN: 9780414017726
PRICE: £70

The first thing the reader notices about this volume is its length. In its unannotated form, the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010 runs to some 49 pages. This annotated version contains 364.

As the Act only came into force on 1 May 2010, it becomes clear that this volume is rather different from the annotated Acts with which we are all familiar. This is confirmed in a List of Cases of 27 pages, suggesting that what lies in store is something considerably more academic than straightforward guidance on the Act itself.

The Act has important implications for the practice of arbitration in Scotland, both in terms of how arbitrations are conducted, and of putting Scotland on the arbitration map in a way hitherto lacking. As a piece of legislation, the Act is ground-breaking, pulling together the heritage of ancient legislation, industry practice, and rules from other jurisdictions, into one relatively concise enactment. The main body of the Act comprises only 37, generally short, sections. The meat is contained in sched 1, the Scottish Arbitration Rules, and for good reason these are subject to very detailed scrutiny in the volume.

As is perhaps inevitable with a new, innovative but as yet untested piece of legislation, much of the commentary centres on how its introduction is expected to change things, but the lack of a cohesive statutory basis before the Act means comparisons throughout the book are drawn not only with previous Scottish practice, but also with practice in a number of international jurisdictions, and with the position under international conventions such as the UNCITRAL Model Law.

While the development of arbitration practice elsewhere will be of interest to those of a more academic bent, the result of the undoubtedly thorough analysis is a commentary which can feel quite dense in places. The unavoidable abundance of acronyms challenges readers to keep alert, and for the non-specialist, or the practitioner in a hurry, the good practical advice on the application of the Act which they may be seeking (and of which there is a significant amount) perhaps gets slightly overwhelmed.

Annotated statutes are never going to be riveting bedtime reading, and this Act is no exception, but the writers are to be commended on their obvious enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, their subject. In many ways, this is a substantial treatise on the law and practice of arbitration masquerading as a mere annotated statute, and a second edition as the Scottish position develops will be a valuable contribution.

Joy Barnard WS, Morton Fraser LLP

Scottish Agricultural Law Handbook

Somerled M Notley

PUBLISHER: Avizandum
ISBN: 9781904968290
PRICE: £90

Somerled Notley's Handbook on Scottish Agricultural Law is one of a considerable number of books which have been provided to help this sector of the profession in the last 20 years.

It is, however, the first significant textbook following the passage of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 with all the substantial reforms which that Act brought in.

The aim of the book is to assist not only specialists in agricultural law, but also general practitioners, factors, land agents and other people involved in this area.

The law is brought down to 1 October 2009, and it is thought-provoking to realise that the rules keep on changing: for instance the passage of the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010. The book contains a copy of principal legislation. This is particularly useful because it includes the text of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1991, taking into account the changes brought in by the 2003 Act. The text provides a clear and helpful summary of all the main provisions of both Acts.

The book does not include much in the way of discussion of alternative interpretations of legislation, or alternative understandings of particular provisions. That said, the author agrees with the recent "Moonzie" decision of the Land Court that single farm payment entitlement held by the farm is not relevant at rent review.

In particular, the book contains a helpful general discussion of two potentially significant changes in the legislation, assignation of tenancies and diversification.

In the chapter on assignation, it would have been worth a mention that, as is commonly understood, an assignee must be somebody who at the time of the assignation would actually be entitled to share in the intestate estate of the assigning tenant.

In the section on diversification, the complicated rules are helpfully set out. The question of how one assesses the value of diversified use to a holding at waygo could, however, have been given a little more consideration, and it is worth noting that the same provisions are dealt with separately in another chapter.

There are some minor niggles. While the summary at the beginning of each chapter is helpful, the use of paragraph numbering inside each chapter is less convenient than making the paragraph numbers run continuously through the book.

Anyone looking for a good general guide to this complex area of law would find it difficult to find a more helpful general summary and introduction.

Mike Blair, Head of Land & Rural Business Law Team, Thorntons LLP

Scottish Civic Government Licensing Law 3rd edition

Andrew Hadjucki & Steven L Stuart

PUBLISHER: W Green (Greens Annotated Acts)
ISBN: 9780414017740
PRICE: £75

In the slightly esoteric world of civic government licensing, previous editions of this book have been of reasonable use. I say reasonable, as they have paled into insignificance beside the practical advice given to liquor licensing practitioners by the equivalent Green's publications.

The main purpose of an annotated Act is to put at your fingertips the law and references which may be essential to lead you round modern legislation. But if your guide cannot lead the way, there may be a problem.

This book, completed in October 2009 and published last December, makes various assumptions about the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill ("CJLB"). The foreword tells us it will become law by the beginning of 2010; the publisher's website will update us by April 2010; and that references to these changes will be in "distinctively numbered" paragraphs, e.g. [212a].

Unfortunately, every section is in that square bracketed format. There is no sign of any update on the publishers' website. At the time of writing, the CJLB has just passed stage 3. While many of the anticipated sections have become law, some have not, and there are some changes. It is therefore impossible from within the book to gain access to the complete law in force. What then was the purpose of publishing when they did? I suggest that everyone who bought a copy of this imperfect work should receive a significant discount on the fourth edition.

Tom Johnston, Young & Partners LLP

MacRoberts Scottish Liquidation Handbook: 4th edition

David Flint with MacRoberts LLP

PUBLISHER: W Green
ISBN: 9780414018228
PRICE: £91.58 (includes CD rom)

In the six years since the third edition of this valuable work was published, much has happened in the field of insolvency and personal bankruptcy, more than sufficient to justify a further edition.

The book opens with a number of chapters explaining the procedure for initiating and conducting liquidations under Scots law and concludes with a substantial section giving styles for use in court processes and in compulsory and voluntary liquidation procedures. As with all such material, the usual health warning against following the styles too closely is given; the frequency with which one David Flint is stated to be a suitable and duly qualified insolvency practitioner for appointment is doubtless intended to be read in light of this warning! There are some 120 styles in 180 pages of text which take account of recent changes in the court and insolvency rules and provide a sound basis upon which to proceed.

It is traditional for a reviewer to track down errors, but only one actual mistake has been found, at 11.10(6); s 246 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (which declares a lien over books and papers unenforceable) does not apply in Scotland. With respectful diffidence the reviewer suggests that the comments on the EC Insolvency Regulation (chapter 19) could usefully be expanded, and the impact of this on the jurisdiction of Scottish courts at 2.1 clarified. At 2.28 attention might be drawn to the decision in Morris 2008 SC 111 (in which the court dispensed with the holding of a final meeting of creditors).

A particularly valuable feature of this publication, which takes it beyond the implications of its title as a "handbook", is the extended discussion in chapters 23 to 26, prepared in conjunction with MacRoberts LLP, of the problems confronted by liquidators in employment law and TUPE, taxation, data protection, pensions and Scottish property leases, including the ranking difficulties arising from the current state of the law on landlord's hypothec.

It is unfortunate that there is no statement of the reference date for the law discussed. Internal evidence suggests that this is 1 March 2010. This is significant because amendments to the Scottish insolvency rules took effect on 6 April 2010, although these had limited relevance to liquidation and were mostly concerned with administration and company voluntary arrangements, permitting the use of electronic communication and remote attendance at creditors' meetings in these procedures (among other amendments). Although they do not apply to Scottish liquidation (or receivership), they have a confusing impact where (as often occurs) an administration moves to liquidation to enable the final distribution of assets to creditors.

Rumour has it, however, that the Scottish insolvency rules will eventually be amended so that liquidation (and receivership) will enjoy the benefits of electronics, and David Flint will (one hopes) be prevailed upon to produce a fifth edition. For the moment, the fourth edition may confidently be recommended as a guide to the procedures and problems of liquidation in Scotland.

David A Bennett, Gillespie MacAndrew

Suggestions for future books

The Book Review Editor is David J Dickson. Books for review should be sent

c/o The Law Society of Scotland, 26 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh EH3 7YR