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Lords amendment: No. 1, in page 7, line 38, at end insert
and contain a description of the land to which the application relates
§ 5 pm
§ The Solicitor-General for Scotland (Mr. Peter Fraser)I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Harold Walker)With this it will be convenient to consider amendment No. 50, in page 44, line 25, at end insert—
§ "Titles to Land Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1868 (c. 101)
§ . In section 159 (litigiosity not to begin before date of registration in Register of Inhibitions and Adjudications of notice of summons) after the word "summons", where thirdly occurring, there shall be inserted the words "and contain a description of the lands to which the summons relates".
§ . In Schedule RR (form of notice of summons) after the word "signeting]" there shall be inserted the words "The Summons relates to [insert description of lands]."."
§ The Solicitor-General for ScotlandThese amendments arise from some concern which was expressed by Opposition peers about the scope of notices of litigiosity under clause 8(8). While the Government were unable to accept the original point, we were persuaded that the present provisions on notices of litigiosity required improvement, and amendments 1 and 50 are designed to achieve this.
At present, clause 8(8), which deals with notices of litigiosity in relation to actions of rectification, merely requires the notice to give the names and designations of the parties to the application and the date when authority for service or citation was granted. This follows the existing provisions in section 159 and schedule RR of the Titles to Land Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1868 for notices of litigiosity relating to actions for reduction and adjudications. However, lawyers carrying out a search in relation to a transaction involving someone of the same name a pursuer or defender in, for example, a reduction action already encounter difficulties in ascertaining whether the action affects their client's interest, especially where the name is a common one where only a business or agent's address is given. Even when the relevant party has correctly been identified, confusion may arise where he owns pieces of land other than the one affected by the action. While it will usually be possible for the seller of the land to prove the transaction in question is not struck at by the notice of litigiosity, this will involve more delay and expense. Previously these difficulties had been tolerable, but with the increase in number of entries in the register of inhibitions and adjudications, and the vastly increased volume of searches, the problem is becoming a severe one. Therefore, the amendments provide that notices of litigiosity, both under this Bill and the 1868 Act, shall also give a description of the land to which the summons or application mentioned in the notice relates.
700 It goes further than the point originally raised by the Opposition and I hope that they support the amendments. I am advised that the amendments enjoy the strong support of the Law Society for Scotland. What started as a minor point has now become a valuable improvement of Scottish law.
§ Mr. Harry Ewing (Falkirk, East)I am happy to say that this amendment enjoys the support of the Opposition.
§ Question put and agreed to.