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Scots law (Scottish Gaelic: Lagh na h-Alba) is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources.[1][2][3] Together with English law and Northern Irish law, it is one of the three legal systems of the United Kingdom.[4] Scots law recognises four sources of law: legislation, legal precedent, specific academic writings, and custom. Legislation affecting Scotland and Scots law is passed by the Scottish Parliament on all areas of devolved responsibility, and the United Kingdom Parliament on reserved matters. Some legislation passed by the pre-1707 Parliament of Scotland is still also valid.
Early Scots law before the 12th century consisted of the different legal traditions of the various cultural groups who inhabited the country at the time, the Gaels in most of the country, with the Britons and Anglo-Saxons in some districts south of the Forth and with the Norse in the islands and north of the River Oykel. The introduction of feudalism from the 12th century and the expansion of the Kingdom of Scotland established the modern roots of Scots law, which was gradually influenced by other, especially Anglo-Norman and continental legal traditions. Although there was some indirect Roman law influence on Scots law, the direct influence of Roman law was slight up until around the 15th century. After this time, Roman law was often adopted in argument in court, in an adapted form, where there was no native Scots rule to settle a dispute; and Roman law was in this way partially received into Scots law.
Since the Union with England Act 1707, Scotland has shared a legislature with England and Wales. Scotland retained a fundamentally different legal system from that south of the border, but the Union exerted English influence upon Scots law. Since the UK joined the European Union, Scots law has also been affected by European law under the Treaties of the European Union, the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights (entered into by members of the Council of Europe) and the creation of the devolved Scottish Parliament which may pass legislation within all areas not reserved to Westminster, as detailed by the Scotland Act 1998.[5][6]
The UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2020 was passed by the Scottish Parliament in December 2020.[7] It received royal assent on 29 January 2021 and came into operation on the same day. It provides powers for the Scottish Ministers to keep devolved Scots law in alignment with future EU Law.
^Palmer, p. 201
^Tetley, Part I
^Thomson, pp.51-91
^Stair, General Legal Concepts (Reissue), para. 4 (Online) Retrieved 2011-11-29
^Sch. 5 Scotland Act 1998
^Devolved and reserved matters explained Archived 2012-07-17 at the Wayback Machine, Scottish Parliament, Retrieved 2011-10-22
^"MSPs pass Brexit bill to 'keep pace' with EU laws". BBC News. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
Scotslaw (Scottish Gaelic: Lagh na h-Alba) is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law...
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Confidentiality and Privacy in ScotsLaw, (W. Green, 2010), at para.1.02 Elspeth C. Reid, Personality, Confidentiality and Privacy in ScotsLaw, (W. Green, 2010),...
historical reasons: English law, Scotslaw, Northern Ireland law, and, since 2007, calls for a fourth type, that of purely Welsh law as a result of Welsh devolution...
The ScotsLaw Times is a commercially published law reports service and law magazine for Scotland, publishing over 1400 pages of reports each year. Published...
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ScotsLaw. Scots contract law is related to Roman Dutch contract law owing to the influence of Dutch and Flemish merchants and scholarship on Scots jurisprudence...
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The Kingdom of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Rìoghachd na h-Alba; Scots: Kinrick o Scotland, Norn: Kongungdum Skotland) was a sovereign state in northwest...
and junior ministers of the Scottish Government as well as the Scottish law officers, are appointed by the first minister. As head of the Scottish Government...
Scotland retains ScotsLaw, its own unique legal system, based on Roman law, which combines features of both civil law and common law. The terms of union...
the bill becomes a law of the Scottish Parliament and becomes embedded in Scotslaw. Once a bill is successful in becoming law, the Scottish Government...
as Ulster Scots). Most commonly spoken in the Scottish Lowlands, Northern Isles, and northern Ulster, it is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish...
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