Latest Annual Report

(Note: details of previous Annual Reports can be found on the Reports pages)

Annual Report 2009

(Scot Law Com No 221)

In our Annual Report for 2009 we report on progress with our law reform projects and give details of the Discussion Papers and Reports planned for 2010.

In the Foreword, the Chairman of the Commission, Lord Drummond Young welcomes the excellent progress made by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament in response to his concerns about the number of Commission Reports that remain unimplemented, and he looks forward to seeing practical results from the changes. He expresses disappointment about the lack of progress made at the United Kingdom level with implementing Commission recommendations. He voices concern that the Commission’s recommendations for reform of the law of partnership have not been implemented despite being widely accepted in Scotland as necessary. He concludes that if the devolution settlement is to work properly, it is vital that UK Government Departments should take their responsibilities to Scotland seriously.

Publications in 2009

The Annual Report gives details of the Discussion Papers and Reports that the Commission published during 2009, and those published jointly with the Law Commission for England and Wales, including a Report on Consumer Remedies for Faulty Goods.

The Commission’s new Programme of Law Reform

The Commission’s Seventh Programme of Law Reform ended in December 2009. While many of the projects under the Programme have been completed, some are being carried forward into the Commission’s Eighth Programme of Law Reform, which will guide its main work from 2010 to 2014.

References from Ministers

In addition to law reform projects under its Programme, the Commission undertakes projects to review specific areas of law as requested by the Scottish Ministers or on occasions, UK Departments. The Annual Report outlines the progress during 2009 with these projects, including the publication in December of the Report on Double Jeopardy.

Publications planned for 2010

During 2010 the Commission plans to publish discussion papers on

Judicial factors
Similar fact evidence and the Moorov doctrine

and reports on

Land registration

In addition the Commission plans to publish a joint consultation paper with the Law Commission on Level Crossings.