Suggested improvements to the Home Owner & Debtor Protection Bill

GLC has written to the Minister for Housing and Communities suggesting simple changes which could dramatically improve Part 1 of the Scottish Government's Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Bill. A copy of the letter is available on our Scribd page here.

Suggested improvements to the Home Owner & Debtor Protection Bill

Minute for Recall of Decree case report: GHA Ltd v Duffy

Sheriff Drummond has held that it was competent for a tenant to minute for recall of decree despite the fact she had appeared in person and been represented at previous court callings, and had stated a defence, with a proof and pre-proof hearing being assigned.

The tenant's solicitors withdrew from acting before the pre-proof hearing, and the tenant failed to appear at the pre-proof hearing, at which stage the landlord obtained decree for payment and ejection.

The court held that the pre-proof hearing was truly a continued diet, that decree had been granted under summary cause rule 8.2(5), and that rule 8.2(5) was not restrictive and did not limit the power to grant decree on the calling date as opposed to a continuation of that hearing. It followed that the minute for recall was competent since summary cause rule 24.1(1) permits recall of decree granted under rule 8.2(5).

The full judgment given on 19 October 2009 at Glasgow Sheriff Court is available here (opens as PDF). Alternatively you can read the full case report without Adobe on GLC's Scribd page here.

Minute for Recall of Decree case report: GHA Ltd v Duffy

Update: Walker Sandford Public Meeting postponed

The proposed public meeting on property factor problems with Walker Sandford Property Management Ltd next Monday has had to be postponed due to technical event reasons. Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience. GLC hopes to announce the new date and venue for this event shortly. If you want to be automatically updated in that regard, you can subscribe to this blog - details of how to do so are to be found at the bottom of the left hand column of this page.

Update: Walker Sandford Public Meeting postponed

Home Owner Bill not fit for purpose

GLC has submitted its views on the Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Bill to the Local Government and Communities Committee today.

We believe that the Bill as presently drafted is not fit for purpose. Our detailed drafting comments are available to view on our scribd page here. In our experience if the Bill were passed as drafted it would cause significant detriment to consumers in Scotland. There is no reason why some simple amendments could not be made to the Mortgage Rights (Scotland) Act 2001 (MRA) to achieve the key recommendations of the Repossessions Sub-Group.

Given the fundamental conceptual and drafting flaws in the Bill, we are urging the Local Government and Communities Committee to recommend that the Scottish Parliament reject this Bill at Stage 1. We are urging the Scottish Government to give consideration to introducing a fresh Bill which would amend the MRA by introducing some precise, straight-forward and workable amendments.

Home Owner Bill not fit for purpose

Trainee solicitor debate at The Scotsman

The Scotsman has reported on the Scottish Young Lawyers Association (SYLA) debate on the motion that 'this House believes that trainees are there to be exploited'.

It is understood that around 50 trainee solicitors in Scotland have already been made 'redundant', however, Iain Mitchell QC advised the audience that as a trainee was truly an 'apprentice' in law, it followed that they could not be made redundant. Mr Mitchell's Opinion is reported in The Firm magazine.

GLC's Mike Dailly opened for the opposition by claiming that the eager-to-please nature of trainees made them vulnerable. He argued having trainees run personal errands or do excessive photocopying was contrary to the training contract, which compels employers to provide a reasonable standard of training, which "does not mean leaving a trainee to run a branch office unsupervised, shouting or bawling at them because of your inadequacies".

The motion was defeated, and a report of the event is available in The Scotsman here. Mike's full contribution is available on GLC's Scribd page here.

Trainee solicitor debate at The Scotsman