Meeting of the Parliament 18 December 2025 [Draft]
I am pleased to open the debate on behalf of Scottish Labour, and I associate myself with the comments from the minister and the convener about Lady Paton.
Scottish Labour supports the general principles of the bill, while calling for the Government to work with stakeholders to consider how the bill could be improved ahead of stage 2. As a member of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, I was involved in the bill’s scrutiny. I thank my colleagues on the committee for the work that they have done in scrutinising the bill, and I thank all stakeholders who engaged with us in the evidence sessions for their involvement in the scrutiny process so far.
There has been a great deal of consensus on the provisions in the bill. It aims to implement recommendations that the Scottish Law Commission made in its 2018 review of contract law in order to codify the law in that area. As the minister said, it is an attempt to codify and simplify the law.
We do not accept that settled law always needs to be codified. However, we recognise the considerable work that the Scottish Law Commission has undertaken, and we support the contents of the bill. We also note that there is limited reform included in the bill. We hope that the bill does not lead to further litigation but, instead, clarifies the law and gives greater certainty.
As the minister said, the intention is that contract law should be clear. As she also stated, the bill deals with the postal acceptance rule, and there will be proposals in relation to the law of retention, which we welcome.
The bill seeks to implement the recommendations of the Scottish Law Commission by establishing default rules relating to the creation of contracts and aspects of the law on remedies for breach of contract, which we support. It does not intend to be a complete statutory codification of Scots common law on contract. Its provisions are intended as starting points or a default, as the minister outlined, always retaining the option for parties to contract out of them and provide their own rules by agreement.
The bill’s provisions might be particularly helpful in international and commercial contexts, in which clarity and predictability are central to maintaining standards. It will also allow the law to be modernised to reflect how the world has changed and, as the convener mentioned, how our postal services have changed, in that they have got far worse and seen no improvement in any sense. We have to deal with the fact that new technology will have an enhanced role and that there will be changes to how communication takes place, with less reliance on postal services.
I welcome the Scottish Government’s intention to introduce provisions on the law of retention. I invite ministers to consider the comments and drafting suggestions that have been made to the committee thus far and to engage with stakeholders on those suggestions ahead of stage 2. I hope that there will be consensus in that regard.
It would be helpful if the Scottish Government could provide a further update today on the outcome of any discussions that have taken place before the deadline for lodging stage 2 amendments, given that time will be limited between when we return after the Christmas break and the dissolution of Parliament.
We welcome the bill and the approach of having a simple piece of legislation that uses simple language so that parties know exactly what the rules are that govern them. We will be pleased to agree to the general principles of the bill, and we call on the Scottish Government to seek further views on its drafting and to prepare guidance that seeks to make the law as straightforward and usable as possible.
13:37