Book reviews: April 2022

A Petersen

PUBLISHER: EDINBURGH LEGAL EDUCATION TRUST
ISBN: 978-1-9996118-1-1
PRICE: £30

This book is Volume 7 in the Studies in Scots Law series published by the Edinburgh Legal Education Trust. It is a lightly revised version of the author’s 2016 thesis entitled The Positive Prescription of Servitudes in Scots Law, and states the law as at September 2018.

Paragraph 1-02 sets out the three objectives of the book, namely to examine the historical origins of the establishment of servitudes by positive prescription in Scots law; to consider the nature of the right; and to analyse the nature of the possession required under the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. The book ably achieves these objectives.

Chapters 2-5 contain an interesting review of Roman law and later European developments, and help place the subject matter in context.

The second section of the book is contained in chapter 6, which discusses whether it is appropriate to say that someone who has acted as if exercising a servitude has “possessed” the servitude or whether it is a limited form of possessing the allegedly servient tenement. The arguments advanced therein are well presented; however the author concludes that there is little urgency for any reform of the basis on which the 1973 Act was founded.

The main subject matter of the book is found in chapters 7-12, which contain an in-depth analysis of the modern law governing the establishment of servitudes by positive prescription. The checklist for claimants and landowners in the appendix is a useful addition.

The book does not chart the position of the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland with regard to prescriptive servitudes but, on balance, it is suggested that that was not required in a book of this nature.

All in all this book is a very useful addition to published texts on an important subject.

Professor Stewart Brymer WS, Brymer Legal Ltd

Lorna Richardson, Craig Evan Anderson

PUBLISHER: BLOOMSBURY PROFESSIONAL
ISBN: 978-1526513915
PRICE: £87 (E-BOOK £70.47)

Back in the day, there was little in the way of textbooks on the subject of the law of leases and, although outdated, Rankine and Paton & Cameron were often still referred to – the former more than the latter. The one exception was Angus McAllister's first edition of this book. I still have my copy. It was concise, authoritative and to the point and was a useful touchpoint for busy practitioners – especially on the underlying common law of leases.

This is the fifth edition which, of course, follows the fourth edition which was published in 2013. In the intervening years since the first edition was published, there have been many articles written on the subject of leases and we thankfully now have more up to date textbooks to refer to – not least Leases by Rennie and others, which was commissioned by SULI as a way to replace and update Rankine.

This latest edition adds to the sources available to practitioners and others, which is a good thing. There does, however, appear to be an increasing demand from publishers to produce new editions much more frequently than was previously the case. Personally, I wonder if that is necessary in every case.

Professor Stewart Brymer WS, Brymer Legal Ltd