§ The Lord AdvocateI beg to move Amendment No. 13, in page 5, line 1, after 'Act', insert:
§ ', "lessor" and "lessee" mean any person for the time being holding the interest of lessor or lessee (as the case may be), and '.
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerWith this we can also discuss Government Amendments Nos. 20 and 21.
§ The Lord AdvocateThese are basically drafting amendments. They are designed to spell out for the avoidance of doubt what is meant by these technical terms. There is an unwritten rule—there is no statutory sanctity behind it as far as I know—that when dealing with very short leases one talks in terms of "landlord" and "tenant" but when dealing with longer leases one tends to use the expressions "lessor" and "lessee". [Interruption.] Why? It is one of those things. I would not, in my last months or years in this House, want to change practices that are time-honoured in this way. It is precedented, and I know that that will appeal to Labour Members. It is the language used in the Long Leases (Scotland) Act 1954 when a somewhat analogous situation arose and a somewhat similar solution was proposed.
§ Amendment No. 13 provides definitions for "lessor" and "lessee" for the purposes of Part II. This is to remove any doubt which might arise about the application of Part II provisions to a person who is not the original lessor or lessee in a lease. It could happen—I understand it has—that the term "lessor" and on occasions the term "lessee" will be restrictively interpreted to refer only to the original contracting parties.
§ In these circumstances it seems wise to put the matter beyond doubt and the definition in the amendment makes it clear that the provisions of Part II apply to anyone who, for the time being, enjoys the rights of lessor or lessee under a lease executed after the commencement of this Act. That is irrespective of when he acquired the right. The other two amendments carry that definition forward to Clause 8.
995§ Mr. James Dempsey (Coatbridge and Airdrie)I want to raise a point in connection with the words used by the Lord Advocate. I wonder whether the Lord Advocate and the legal profession have any regard for the layman who is sometimes called upon to consider documents of this nature. I would have thought that "lessor" and "lessee" mean little to someone like myself who is not a lawyer while they mean quite a lot to a lawyer. I often wonder whether these words are used so that we might engage lawyers to interpret them for us.
Does the Lord Advocate not realise that while this terminology may have been used for hundreds of years there are other words and other expressions which have been altered during this time and so that a modern-minded person can understand the implications of a sentence containing such terminology? Why should this change not take place in legal terminology? Sometimes there are occasions when a document has been signed and it is the dickens of a job trying to interpret the names represented on it and to see what type of person the owner is, possessed or dispossessed. I have been a justice of the peace for 20 years and that sort of work is the most difficult I have experienced. I would far rather try the most complicated case in a court than try to understand some of the terms in these documents.
The Lord Advocate has indicated that he is leaving the House. We are sorry about that because he has always been the essence of courtesy and kindness. He might have gone down in history had he eliminated these words and replaced them with terminology understandable to the average lay person.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Amendment made: No. 14, in page 5, line 5, after 'some', insert 'continuing'.—[The Lord Advocate.]