The Scottish Government has introduced a bill into the Scottish Parliament which will change the Scots law of contract in two major respects.
When passed, the Legal Writings (Counterparts and Delivery) (Scotland) Bill will bring Scots Law on the formation of contracts into a modern era.
The first major innovation the bill will make is to allow a document which requires to be signed by two or more parties to be “executed in counterpart”. This means that each party to the contract can sign their own copy of the document remotely from each other, rather than the one document being circulated round all the parties of the contract needing to be signed. The subscribed counterpart will then be delivered to the other party or parties.
The second important change is that the Bill will permit delivery of paper legal documents by electronic methods, meaning that the document will take legal effect upon such delivery.
The two advances will promote confidence in using Scots law to form contracts and hopefully will make Scotland a better place to do business.
Professor Hector MacQueen, the lead commissioner on the contract law reform team stated “This bill is the end product of a great deal of consultation with legal practitioners which has helped to produce innovations that are both principled and pragmatic in allowing the swift completion of documents in accordance with international best practice. I look forward to helping its speedy progress on to the statute book.”
The Law Commissions review can be seen at:
http://www.scotlawcom.gov.uk/index.php/download_file/view/1149/138/
Mitchells Roberton Solicitors & Estate Agents in Glasgow are happy to provide advice in relation to commercial contracts.
If you have any questions please contact Ross Leatham on rjl@mitchells-roberton.co.uk or telephone 0141 552 3422.