Law reform update

Taxi and private hire car licensing

The Licensing Subcommittee is currently considering a consultation paper on best practice guidance for licensing authorities. The Scottish Government first published guidance in December 2007. This paper updates the earlier guidance in light of legislative changes since then. There is a June deadline for responses.

Building a Fairer Britain

This paper seeks comments on the Government’s plans to reform the Equality and Human Rights Commission to ensure it can focus on its core role as an equality regulator. The Equalities Subcommittee is currently considering this paper and will respond by 15 June.

Carloway Review

The Society’s board working group (the Society’s Vice President Cameron Ritchie, and Bill McVicar and Gerry Considine from the Criminal Law Committee) is currently considering this consultation paper and will submit comments ahead of the deadline in June.

Pensions Law Subcommittee

The subcommittee is currently considering three consultation papers, including a Department for Work and Pensions paper “A State Pension for the 21st Century”.

Child maintenance

“Strengthening families, promoting parental responsibility: the future of child maintenance”, a paper produced by the DWP, sought views on a strategy for reforming the child maintenance system. The Family Law Subcommittee submitted a comprehensive response to this paper last month.

Policing in Scotland

The Criminal Law Committee submitted a response to this Scottish Government consultation in April. In its response the Committee notes that it cannot provide a view on the options contained in the paper, with regard to a unified police force, a regional model or retention of the eight police forces in place at present, as this is ultimately a political decision. However the committee highlights that any reform implemented by Government of whatever nature should result in an independent and democratically accountable police service whose operations properly reflect the interests of justice.

Resolving workplace disputes

This consultation was conducted by the Department for Business, Skills & Innovation, and the Ministry of Justice’s Tribunals Service. It is the first step in taking forward the Government’s review of employment law. The consultation paper contains a number of questions regarding workplace mediation. The Employment and Equalities Law Subcommittees submitted a response in April.

Patent documents

The IP Subcomittee submitted a response last month to the UK Intellectual Property Office consultation “Amending the Patents Acts to provide online patent document inspection”. The committee included a number of comments for consideration, but noted that overall it supports the introduction of this inspection at the IPO.

Judicial factors

A number of the Society’s committees were involved in forming a response to this Scottish Law Commission discussion paper. The paper recognised that the law relating to judicial factor is no longer fit for purpose and offered two possible options for reform. The Society is in favour of the first option, to keep the existing structure but to modernise it and make it more efficient by updating the powers and duties of judicial factors. A response was submitted in April.

Legal services providers

“Ownership and control of firms providing legal services under the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010”, a consultation paper published by the Scottish Government, sought views around s 49 of the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010 concerning which professions should be regarded as regulated professionals for the purposes of owning licensed legal services providers. The Society sought members’ views on the three questions contained within the consultation paper and submitted a response this month.

You can view the consultation responses submitted by the Society at: www.lawscot.org.uk/consultations