Scottish Land and Estates (SLE) has warned government that unless farm tenancy proposals in the Land Reform Bill are compliant with European human rights legislation, it will refer the issue to the Supreme Court for a ruling.
The landowners body last night revealed it had approached leading Scots law officers, including the Lord Advocate, asking them to examine the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill to ensure it is fully compliant with human rights legislation.
In particular, SLE has asked that sections of the bill relating to the assignation of secure tenancies and the widening of succession rights are fully scrutinised ahead of the bill receiving Royal Assent.
The landowners organisation said it believed these elements of the bill damaged their property rights and as such were in contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
It said that if the law officers could not verify ECHR compliance, the matter should be referred to the Supreme Court for a ruling.
SLE chairman, David Johnstone, said: “I can confirm that we have approached the Scottish Government’s law officers on these points and this is entirely consistent with what we have said throughout the process – it is in everyone’s interests that we are sure that the legislation is not flawed. Parliamentary committees and leading politicians have also said it is vitally important that the legislation is legally compliant.
“We want to ensure, even at this late stage, that every possible step is taken to avoid the industry being plunged into long-running legal turmoil in the future when these provisions take effect.”
He said legal opinion obtained by SLE and given to Parliament during the scrutiny stage of the bill had found that the combination of a widening of succession rights and the ability to assign and sell 1991 Act secure tenancies was in contravention of ECHR rules.