Committee
Justice Committee 14 March 2017
14 Mar 2017 · S5 · Justice Committee
Item of business
Subordinate Legislation
Scottish Tribunals (Listed Tribunals) Regulations 2017 [Draft]
No, I cannot. We undertook a consultation on the instrument between 26 May and 24 June 2016 and received seven responses. Six of the seven responses were content with the proposal. One of the responses was from Brian Inkster, who is a crofting law solicitor. He thought that the Crofting Commission should be retained as a tribunal. His main issue of concern was about the use of a particular section of the crofting legislation that allows the Crofting Commission to make an inquiry and then remove any or all of the members of a grazing committee from office. His concern was that there is no right of appeal to the Scottish Land Court so judicial review is the only avenue of appeal, but he thought that, if the Crofting Commission were to transfer to the Scottish tribunals, appeals could be made to the upper tribunal. However, for the reasons that I have given, the Crofting Commission is not a tribunal in the true sense of the word. The mention of the Crofting Commission in the list of tribunals was an historical quirk because of the AJTC’s supervisory role at the time. John Finnie will be aware from our programme for government that we will introduce crofting legislation during this parliamentary session. The issue of the right of appeal might be brought to the forefront of the debate on that legislation. Obviously, we will engage with stakeholders when we get to that stage.
In the same item of business
The Convener
Con
Agenda item 2 is subordinate legislation. The committee will consider the draft Scottish Tribunals (Listed Tribunals) Regulations 2017, which is an affirmati...
The Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
Thank you, convener. Good morning. The regulations will remove the Crofting Commission from the listed tribunals—that is, the list of tribunals in schedule ...
The Convener
Con
Thank you, minister. Do members have any questions?
John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Green)
Green
Good morning, minister. Can you see any implications for the day-to-day business of crofting as a result of the proposal?
Annabelle Ewing
SNP
No, I cannot. We undertook a consultation on the instrument between 26 May and 24 June 2016 and received seven responses. Six of the seven responses were con...
John Finnie
Green
That is what I was going to ask about. There are a lot of issues with crofting at the moment, so why deal with this issue now? Why not wait? Is the relations...
Annabelle Ewing
SNP
No. The reason for doing it now is that the AJTC was abolished in 2013. We are moving to the implementation of the 2014 act and looking at having the simplif...
John Finnie
Green
Does the relationship with the Land Court change in any way?
Annabelle Ewing
SNP
It does not.
John Finnie
Green
Many thanks.
Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP)
SNP
I have a simple little question in relation to the Scottish tribunals structure. Might we expect to see, in due course, any other outstanding matters around ...
Annabelle Ewing
SNP
Yes. We plan to bring all the devolved tribunals within the Scottish tribunals structure, as set out in the 2014 legislation. There is a timetable for the pr...
The Convener
Con
As members have nothing further to add, we move to item 3, which is formal consideration of the motion. The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee has con...
The Convener
Con
That concludes consideration of the regulations. The committee’s report will note and confirm the outcome of the debate. Does the committee agree to delegate...