Scottish Rights of Way and Access Society

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About Access Rights

33
  • #RespectProtectEnjoy
  • Rights of Way FAQ
  • What are Outdoor Access Rights?
  • Rights of Way
    • Development Proposals and Outdoor Access
    • Moving and Closing Paths
    • Path Maintenance
    • Private Signs, Private Roads, Public Roads, What’s the difference?
    • Rights of Access to Land
    • Rights of Way and Motor Vehicles
  • Statutory Access Rights
    • A Brief History of Access Rights
    • A local landowner has fenced off a path that is well used by local people, and has put up a sign saying No trespassers’. What can I do about it?
    • Are access rights different in Scotland from those in England and Wales?
    • Can I go wild camping in Scotland?
    • Horse riders are using a local path and churning it up so that it is difficult for walkers to use. What can be done?
    • Moving and Closing Paths
    • No Right of Access to Land in Scotland through the Scottish Outdoor Access Code
    • Path Maintenance
    • Private Signs, Private Roads, Public Roads, What’s the difference?
    • Right to Roam Timeline
    • Rights of Access to Land
    • Rights of Way and Motor Vehicles
    • Snares and traps in the Countryside
    • The Coming of Statutory Access Rights
    • The Scottish Outdoor Access Code, A Replacement for the Country Code
    • What activities are covered by rights of access?
    • What activities are not covered by rights of access?
    • What are core paths?
    • What does behaving responsibly mean?
    • What happens when there is a dispute about whether, or how, the rights of access apply?
    • What is a Local Access forum?
    • What is the National Access Forum?
    • Where do access rights not apply?
    • Who should I contact if I have a problem about access rights?

The Bookshelf

9
  • About The Bookshelf
  • Guidance on Legislation
  • Legislation
  • Responsible Access
  • Surveys of Rights of Way, Outdoor Access and Procedures
  • Rights of Way and Outdoor Access Management
    • Land Management
    • Path Management
    • People Management
    • Signposting and Interpretation

Court Cases

146
  • An outline of the Scottish Courts System
  • The Authority of Case Law
  • The complexity of the law
  • Cases under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003
    • Aviemore Highland Resort v Cairngorms National Park Authority
    • Caledonian Heritable Ltd v East Lothian Council
    • Creelman v Argyll & Bute Council
    • Forbes v Fife Council
    • Gloag v Perth & Kinross Council and the Rambler’s Association
    • Judicial Review: Petition of GREGORY BROWN for review of a decision by GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL (Cathkin Park, Glasgow)
    • Law Society of Scotland v Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
    • Renyana Stahl Anstalt v Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority Appeal Decision
    • Snowie v Stirling Council and Ramblers Association Lindsay and Barbara Ross v Stirling Council
    • Tuley v Highland Council
    • Williamson v Highland Activities Limited
  • Public rights of way and private servitude rights of way
    • Creation of public rights of way – need for public place end points
      • Cuthbertson v Young
      • Darrie v Drummond
      • Duncan v Lees
      • Jenkins v Murray
      • Lauder v MacColl
      • Leith-Buchanan v Hogg
      • Magistrates of Dunblane v Arnold-McCulloch
      • Marquis of Bute v McKirdy & McMillan
      • Melfort Pier Holidays Ltd v The Melfort Club and Others
      • Midlothian Council v Crolla
      • Oswald v Lawrie
      • Scott v Drummond
      • Smith v Saxton
      • Wood v North British Railway
    • Creation of public rights of way – use as of right by the public for the prescriptive period
      • Aberdeen City Council v Wanchoo and Neumann v Hutchison
      • Ayr Burgh Council v British Transport Commission
      • Burt v Barclay
      • Cadell v Stevenson
      • Cumbernauld & Kilsyth District Council v Dollar Land (Cumbernauld) Ltd
      • Duffield Morgan v Lord Advocate
      • Kinloch’s Trustees v Young
      • Magistrates of Elgin v Robertson
      • McGregor v Crieff Co-operative Society Ltd
      • McInroy v Duke of Athole
      • Norrie v Magistrates of Kirriemuir
      • Rhins District Committee of the County Council of Wigtownshire v Cunninghame
      • Richardson v Cromarty Petroleum Co Ltd
      • Rome v Hope Johnstone
      • Scottish Rights of Way & Recreation Society Ltd v Macpherson
      • Strathclyde (Hyndland) Housing Society Ltd v Cowie
      • Wills Trustees v Cairngorm Canoeing and Sailing School Ltd
      • Wilson v Jamieson
    • Creation of rights of way – interruption of the prescriptive period
      • Mann v Brodie
    • Different kinds of use of rights of way
      • Aberdeenshire Council v Lord Glentanar
      • Carstairs v Spence
      • Crawford v Lumsden
      • Macfarlane v Morrison & Others (Robertson’s Trustees)
      • Mackenzie v Bankes
      • Malcolm v Lloyd
    • Need for a particular line for public rights of way
      • Home Drummond & Another (Petitioners)
      • Hozier v Hawthorne
      • Mackintosh v Moir
    • Obstruction of rights of way
      • Aitchison v India Tyre & Rubber Co.
      • Anderson v Earl of Morton
      • Drury v McGarvie
      • Earl of Morton v Anderson
      • Fife Council v Nisbet
      • Geils v Thomson
      • Glasgow and Carlisle Road Trustees v Tennant
      • Glasgow and Carlisle Road Trustees v Whyte
      • Graham v Sharpe
      • Hay v Earl of Morton’s Trustees
      • Kirkpatrick v Murray
      • Lanarkshire Water Board v Gilchrist
      • Lord Donington v Mair
      • Macdonald v Watson
      • Midlothian District Council v MacKenzie
      • Rodgers v Harvie
      • Soriani v Cluckie
      • Stewart, Pott & Co. v Brown Brothers & Co
      • Sutherland v Thomson
    • Procedural issues
      • Alexander v Picken
      • Alston v Ross
      • Hope v Landward District Committee of the Parish Council of Inveresk
      • Macfie v Scottish Rights of Way and Recreation Society Limited
      • Nairn v Speedie
      • Potter v Hamilton
      • Torrie v Duke of Atholl
    • Public and private rights of way – ancillary rights and burdens
      • Allan v McLachlan
      • Lord Burton v Mackay
      • McRobert v Reid
      • Milne v Inveresk Parish Council
      • Moncrieff v Jamieson
      • Preston’s Trustees v Preston
    • Relationship of public rights of way with private servitude rights of way and with ‘roads’ under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984
      • Public rights of way and ‘roads’ under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984
        • Davidson v Earl of Fife
        • Hamilton v Dumfries & Galloway Council
        • Hamilton v Nairn
      • Relationship of public rights of way with private servitude rights of way
        • Alvis v Harrison
        • McGavin v McIntyre
        • Thomson v Murdoch
    • Rights of way – land owned by statutory undertakers or the Crown
      • Ayr Harbour Trustees v Oswald
      • British Transport v Westmoreland County Council
      • Edinburgh Corporation v North British Railway Co.
      • Ellice’s Trustees v Commissioners for the Caledonian Canal
      • Kinross County Council v Archibald
      • Lord Advocate v Strathclyde Regional Council and Lord Advocate v Dumbarton District Council
      • Oban Town Council v Callander & Oban Railway
      • The Ramblers Association v The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (and Others)
  • Navigation rights and rights in relation to the foreshore
    • Navigation rights
      • Campbell’s Trustees v Sweeney
      • Colquhoun’s Trustees v Orr Ewing & Co
      • Crown Estate Commissioners v Fairlie Yacht Slip Ltd.
      • Denaby and Cadeby Main Collieries Ltd v Anson
      • Ellerman Lines Ltd v Clyde Navigation Trustees
      • Kames Bay Case – Petition of the Crown Estate Commissioners
      • Walford v David
      • Wills Trustees v Cairngorm Canoeing and Sailing School Ltd
    • Rights in relation to the foreshore
      • Leith-Buchanan v Hogg
      • Marquis of Bute v McKirdy & McMillan
      • Officers of State v Smith
  • Liability
    • Cases relating to contributory negligence
      • Smith v Finch
    • Liability of recreational users to one another
      • Anthony Phee v James Gordon & Niddry Castle Golf Club 4 November 2011
      • Milne v Duguid
      • Pearson v Lightning
    • Occupiers’ liability: Cases involving ‘hazards’ in the outdoors
      • Anderson v The Scottish Ministers
      • Brown v South Lanarkshire Council
      • Duff v East Dunbartonshire Council
      • Fegan v Highland Regional Council
      • Graham v East of Scotland Water
      • Johnstone v Sweeney
      • Lang v Kerr Anderson & Co.
      • Marshall v North Ayrshire Council
      • McCluskey v Lord Advocate
      • Michael Leonard v The Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority
      • Prosecution by the Health & Safety Executive Dunoon Sheriff Court, 18th August 2010
      • Strachan v Highland Council
      • Tomlinson v Congleton Borough Council
      • Trueman v Aberdeenshire Council
      • Wright v Nevis Range Development Company
    • Occupiers’ liability: Cases involving children
      • Dawson v Scottish Power
      • Glasgow Corporation v Taylor
      • Jolley v Sutton London Borough Council
      • Stevenson v Glasgow Corporation
    • Occupiers’ liability: Cases involving facilities/indoor premises
      • McCondichie v Mains Medical Centre
      • Poppleton v Peter Ashley Activities Centre
      • Porter v Borders Council
    • Cases involving animals
      • Gardiner v Miller
      • Shirley McKaskie v John Cameron
      • Welsh v Brady
  • Other cases of interest
    • Carol Rohan Beyts v Trump International Golf Club Scotland Limited
    • Law Society of Scotland v Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
    • Neizer v Rhodes
    • R v Howard

Heritage Paths

18
  • Heritage Paths Introduction
  • Historic Footpaths
  • The Launch of the Heritage Paths website
  • About Types of Heritage Paths
    • Coffin Roads
    • Drove Roads
    • Fish Roads
    • Heritage Paths Introduction
    • Leisure Paths
    • Medieval Roads
    • Military Roads
    • Pilgrimage Routes
    • Postie Paths
    • Public works and private enterprise: moving towards the modern transport system
    • Religious Routes
    • Roman Roads
    • Salters’ Roads
    • Trade Routes
    • Traveller Routes

History

36
  • Historic Footpaths
  • The Launch of the Heritage Paths website
  • History of Access
    • A Brief History of Access Rights
    • Boardwalks, the oldest types of constructed path
    • Right to Roam Timeline
    • The Bedford Memorial Bridge
    • The Coming of Statutory Access Rights
    • The Scottish Outdoor Access Code, A Replacement for the Country Code
    • What is the National Access Forum?
  • History of ScotWays
    • 175th Anniversary
    • 1844 The beginning of ScotWays
    • Scottish Hill Tracks – the 100+ year story
    • The Association for the Protection of Public Rights of Roadway in and Around Edinburgh
    • The Bedford Memorial Bridge
    • The History of ScotWays
    • Welcome the Scottish Rights of Way and Recreation Society Limited
    • What’s in a name?
    • You are invited to the opening of the Rev A. E. Robertson Memorial Bridge
  • Important People of Scottish Access
    • Adam Black (1784-1874)
    • Archibald Eneas Robertson (1870-1958)
    • Arthur W Russell (1873-1967)
    • Donald Bennet (1928-2013)
    • Donald Grant Moir  (1902-1986)
    • John George Bartholomew (1860-1920)
    • John Hutton Balfour (1808-1884)
    • Professor Sir Robert (Bob) Grieve (1910 -1995)
    • Rennie McOwan (1933-2018)
    • Tom Weir (1914-2006)
    • Viscount James Bryce (1838-1922)
    • Walter Arthur Smith (1852-1934)
    • William Ferris (1894-1963)
  • Signposting
    • 1964 When figure 740 changed the face of path signs
    • A Signposting Tour of the Cairngorms
    • ScotWays’s Oldest Standing Signpost
    • The Changing Face of ScotWays Signs
    • The First ScotWays Signposts

Scottish Hill Tracks

2
  • Scottish Hill Tracks – the 100+ year story
  • Scottish Hill Tracks Updates
  • Home
  • Ask Ken
  • Court Cases
  • An outline of the Scottish Courts System
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An outline of the Scottish Courts System

Civil court cases are initiated either in one of the many local Sheriff Courts, or in the Court of Session in Edinburgh. The Inner House of the Court of Session also acts as a court of appeal, though an appeal from a Sheriff Court can also be made to the local Sheriff Principal. It is up to the person making the appeal to decide whether to appeal to the Sheriff Principal or whether to appeal direct to the Court of Session. Until October 2009 there was a final right of appeal from the Court of Session appeal division (the Inner House) to the House of Lords. From that date, the UK Supreme Court is now the final court of appeal for the whole of the UK in civil cases.

The diagram below explains the structure of the Scottish civil courts.

In certain circumstances, there may be an application to the European Court of Human Rights if the claimant has been given no redress through the UK courts. For information about the process, see:  http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/37C26BF0-EE46-437E-B810- EA900D18D49B/0/ENG_QR.pdf

In the case of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, there are two main processes for bringing cases to court and, in both cases, the process must start in the Sheriff Court. Under sections 14 and 15, a landowner can appeal to the Sheriff Court against a notice that the local authority has served on them in respect of an alleged obstruction of access rights. Under section 28, anyone may apply to the Sheriff Court for a court order in relation to whether access rights apply on particular land; or whether particular land managers or users have acted responsibly in relation to access; or whether there is a public right of way. Once the Sheriff has given his decision there may be appeals to higher courts.

A court decision may have an important impact on future cases because it may establish a precedent that has to be followed in other cases. A single sheriff’s decision is persuasive only – it is not binding on other sheriffs. An appeal decision by a sheriff principal is binding only within his own sheriffdom. An appeal decision in the Court of Session is binding throughout Scotland unless and until overturned, either by a larger appeal division of the Court of Session convened especially for the purpose, or by the Supreme Court.

The Scottish Courts Service website provides more information about the courts system in Scotland and the Judiciary of Scotland website provides a useful glossary of legal terms used in court proceedings in Scotland.

The following is a note of some of the main technical terms used in court proceedings.

Pursuer and defender

The person who initiates the court proceedings is the pursuer, and the person defending the action is the defender. If there is an appeal, the person appealing is the appellant and the other party is the respondent.

Precognitions

These are statements, generally prepared by the solicitor in the case, setting out what a witness is likely to say in open court in response to questions. They do not form part of the evidence as such and are not lodged in court.

Pleadings

These are the written statements of each party’s case, prepared by solicitors or counsel. They start with an initial writ (or application) and defences and develop over the initial procedural stages into the ‘Closed Record’, which is lodged with the court. The object of this is to identify the factual and legal issues in dispute, which need to be resolved in the case.

Proof

This is the hearing of evidence, at which witnesses give their evidence under oath in open court.

Court Decisions

Court decisions review the facts and the legal arguments of the parties and set out what the court has decided in relation to both the facts and the law. The court can make various different orders, depending on the nature of the case.

Examples of relevant court orders:

A ‘declarator’ confirms the legal position in relation to a claimed right or status, e.g. that access rights apply over a particular area of land, or that there is a right of way along a particular line.

An ‘interdict’ prohibiting someone from doing something, e.g. obstructing a right of way. There can be an application for an interim interdict while the full court process is taking place. A final interdict may then be given when the case has been heard in full. A person who breaches an interdict may be fined or even imprisoned.

‘Damages’ compensating the claimant, e.g. for injuries he has suffered.

The normal rule with expenses (Costs) is that the losing party pays the winning party’s judicial expenses. They are assessed in accordance with a set table of fees by the Auditor of Court – in practice often limited to about two-thirds of the actual expenses. The court has some discretion to vary an award of expenses (e.g. to one half of the table of fees) or to make no award, but this is unusual. If the losing party has legal aid, an expenses order against him/her is likely to be almost valueless.

Case Law Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, Case Law Liability, Case Law Navigation rights and rights in relation to the foreshore, Case Law other cases of interest, Case Law Public rights of way and private servitude rights of way, Court Case
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Updated on 27 October 2023

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The Scottish Rights of Way & Access Society. Upholding Public Access.
Registered Office: 24 Annandale Street, Edinburgh, EH7 4AN. Tel: 0131 558 1222.
A company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland. Company number 24243.
Scottish Charity number SC015460.
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