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The Bill introduced a statutory right of responsible non-motorised access to all land in Scotland, under a number of exceptions, but including inland waters, exercisable by individuals, for recreational purposes, or in order to cross land. |
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The provisions place responsibilities on both members of the public exercising the right and on land managers, in both cases to act responsibly and the statutory framework will be supplemented by a code or practice, to be known as The Scottish Outdoor Access Code, which is in the process of being drawn up by Scottish Natural Heritage. A consultative draft was issued recently and the consultation period expires on the 30th June 2003.
The new right of access radically alters the law which at the moment prohibits trespass, although the prohibition is difficult to enforce and, except in very limited circumstances, trespass is not a criminal offence. There is, however, a substantial school of thought that a common law right of access to land exists already and that, accordingly, the statutory right will run concurrently with the common law right.
For more information contact Alasdair Fox |
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