Compulsory purchase are powers to obtain land in Scotland that were traditionally available to certain public bodies in Scots law.

In contrast to other jurisdictions, compulsory purchase powers can be exercised by non-public bodies under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

The development of powers of compulsory purchase in Scotland originated in the railway mania of the Victorian period within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801-1921).

[2] This bill had to outline the area of land (commonly the extent of the railway track itself) expressly sought and provided a power of compulsory purchase to the constructing entity.

This method of compulsory purchase was viewed as a repetitive and time-consuming process and the United Kingdom parliament enacted the Lands Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict.

The 1845 act has received subsequent criticism by the Scottish Law Commission in their Discussion Papers in Compulsory Purchase (2014, SLC DP No: 159).

[10] The Committee on Acquisition of Land Committee (1917–1919) chaired by Lord Justice Scott gave the following opinion on the 1845 Act:[11] We are of opinion that the Lands Clauses Acts are out of date, and fail to give effect to the requirements of the community of today, and therefore that they should be repealed and replaced by a fresh code.

Certain exceptions to the normal procedures are provided for certain land by the following acts: The acquiring authority should seek to listen to the people affected at every stage of the process.

[32] if no voluntary agreement is reached, the acquiring authority can identify land it wishes to compulsory purchase under powers given to it by statute, see above.

[47] The Scottish Government recommends acquiring authorities also send a copy of the Guide to compulsory purchase and compensation' for this purpose.

[48][49] A minimum statutory period of 21 days applies for any objections to be made to the draft compulsory purchase order.

[53] Where an objection is not withdraw, a public local inquiry will be held by the Scottish Government's Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA).

[58] Any individual who fails to attend or give evidence to the public local inquiry at the request of the DPEA Reporter is guilty of a criminal offence.

The Scottish Law Commission that without revocation of an abandoned compulsory purchase order, owners of land may struggle to sell their house as the CPO will normally appear through buyer's due diligence.

Service of a notice to treat had historically been taken to create a binding contract, obliging the owner to sign the schedule conveyance deed to transfer ownership.

An example disposition can be found on the Registers of Scotland website:"Statutory style of Schedule A conveyance I (design) in consideration of the sum of paid to me [or, as the case may be, into the Bank (or to A.B.

[Here insert the conditions (if any) of the conveyance...."[79]Upon registration of the deed in the Land Register, ownership will transfer to the acquiring authority.

[84] However, the current prescribed form of GVDs is contained within the Compulsory Purchase of Land (Scotland) Regulations 2003 (SSI 2003/446).

An example GVD can be found on the Registers of Scotland website:"We (name of acquiring authority) in exercise of the powers conferred by section 195 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the authorisation given to us by the (title of the order) Compulsory Purchase Order 20 , ) [recorded in the Division of the General Register of Sasines applicable to the County of on (insert date of recording)] [registered in the Land Register of Scotland under title number(s) (insert title number/s) ] HEREBY DECLARE that the land described in the [First (only required if there is a Second schedule for burdens etc being preserved)] Schedule hereto, together with the right to enter upon and take possession of the same shall vest in us on (e) being the end of a period which meets the requirements of paragraph 1 as read with paragraph 4 of Schedule 15 to the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.

This follows a longstanding principle of Scots law, and other legal systems of the home nations, that the state must compensate for seizures of property.

In Scots law, the case of Burmah Oil Company (Burma Trading) v The Lord Advocate[91] also made reference to a right to compensation payable to unlawful deprivations.

The British Government, which the Lord Advocate then acted as legal officer in Scotland for, had authorised the destruction of the company's oil installations as a consequence.

[93] In the House of Lords, the law lords held that""there is no general rule that the prerogative can be exercised, even in time of war or imminent danger, by taking or destroying property without making payment for it"In present times, the introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 also includes protections to owners under Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the Convention for compensation.

The preceding provisions shall not, however, in any way impair the right of a State to enforce such laws as it deems necessary to control the use of property in accordance with the general interest or to secure the payment of taxes or other contributions or penalties.

"[95]Therefore, landowners in Scotland are protected under the right to property from compulsory purchase of land except in accordance with the law.

[98] This was welcomed by the legal profession and other compulsory purchase practitioners who had argued that the current legislative framework is outdated.

[99] The discussion paper's view on the current law of compulsory purchase runs to 322 pages, but is succinctly summarised in the SLC's news release:"The essential problem is that the law on compulsory purchase is largely set out in legislation passed between the middle of the nineteenth century and the middle of the twentieth century.

The Paper suggests that there should be a new statute setting out the law so that everyone involved – public authorities, practitioners and landowners – can see clearly how the system works.