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(1) Every grazings committee shall, within 6 months after being required by the Commission so to do, make and submit to the Commission common grazings regulations.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the power conferred on a grazings committee by section 48(1)(c) of this Act, common grazings regulations shall make provision with respect to the following matters—
(a) the recovery by the grazings committee from the crofters sharing in the common grazings of all expenses incurred by the committee in maintaining the common grazings and in providing, maintaining or replacing any fixed equipment required in connection therewith;
(b) the recovery by the grazings committee from such crofters of all expenses incurred by the committee in the performance of the duties imposed on them by subsection (1)(b), and the exercise of their powers under subsection (4), of section 48 of this Act according to the proposed allocation of expenditure referred to in subsection (2) of that section or, as the case may be, that allocation as approved or modified by the Commission under that subsection;
(c) the levying by the grazings committee on, and the recovery by them from, the crofters referred to in paragraph (a) above or, as the case may be, such of the crofters referred to in paragraph (b) above as are liable to pay any expenses as mentioned in that paragraph, in such proportions as may be specified in the regulations, such sums as will in the opinion of the committee be necessary to enable the committee to meet any expenses which they may incur in the performance of the duties imposed on them by paragraphs (a) and (b) respectively of section 48(1) of this Act;
(d) the number and the kind of stock which each crofter is entitled to put on the common grazings;
(e) the alteration of individual soumings where works for the improvement of the common grazings or the fixed equipment required in connection therewith have been carried out and all the crofters have not contributed to the expenses incurred in carrying out such works;
(f) where appropriate, the cutting of peats and the collection of seaweed;
(g) subject to the provisions of this Act, the summoning of meetings of the grazings committee and the procedure and conduct of business at such meetings.
(3) Common grazings regulations may—
(a) restrict the use of any part of the common grazings on which works of improvement have been carried out to crofters who contribute towards the expenses incurred by the common grazings committee in carrying out those works;
(b) where the use of any part of the common grazings is restricted as aforesaid, regulate the number and kinds of stock which each contributing crofter may put on that part and the number and kinds of stock which each crofter (whether or not he is a contributing crofter) may put on the remainder of the common grazings.
(4) Common grazings regulations made by a grazings committee shall be of no effect unless confirmed by the Commission. The Commission may confirm with or without modification or refuse to confirm any common grazings regulations submitted to them for confirmation, and may fix the date on which the regulations are to come into operation; and if no date is so fixed, the regulations shall come into operation at the expiration of one month from the date of their confirmation.
(5) If a grazings committee fail within the time limited by subsection (1) above to make and submit to the Commission common grazings regulations or to make and submit to the Commission common grazings regulations which in the opinion of the Commission are sufficient and satisfactory, the Commission may themselves make such common grazings regulations, which shall have the like force and effect as if they had been made by the grazings committee and confirmed by the Commission.
(6) A grazings committee may from time to time, and, if so required by the Commission, shall within the time limited by such requirement, make further regulations amending the common grazings regulations for the time being in force, and subsections (4) and (5) above shall apply to any such amending regulations subject to any necessary modifications.
(7) Before confirming, making or amending regulations in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section, the Commission shall consult the landlord of the common grazings to which the regulations relate; and the Commission shall send a copy of any regulations so confirmed, made or amended to the landlord and to the grazings committee.
(8) Common grazings regulations for the time being in force under this section shall have effect notwithstanding anything contrary thereto or inconsistent therewith contained in any lease or other agreement, whether entered into before or after the coming into force of such regulations.
(1) Where a grazings committee or any crofter interested in the common grazing proposes that the committee should, in exercise of their power under section 48(4) of this Act, plant trees on, and use as woodlands, any part of the common grazing, the committee shall apply for—
(a) the approval of the Commission; and
(b) the consent of the landlord of the common grazing,
to the use as woodlands of the part of the common grazing concerned.
(2) A landlord’s consent—
(a) shall be in writing;
(b) shall specify the part of the common grazing to which it relates;
(c) shall be intimated to the Commission by the landlord or the grazings committee;
(d) shall not take effect until it is entered in the Register of Crofts; and
(e) shall, when entered in that Register, be binding on the successors to the landlord’s interest.
(3) A landlord’s consent shall cease to have effect if the grazings committee have not commenced planting of trees on the part of the common grazing to which the consent relates on the expiry of the period of seven years beginning with the date on which the consent is entered in the Register of Crofts.
(4) In this section—
“landlord’s consent” means the consent of the landlord referred to in subsection (1)(b) above; and
“Register of Crofts” means the Register maintained under section 41 of this Act.
(1) Where the owner of any land to which this Act does not apply agrees to grant rights in any pasture or grazing land to the crofters sharing in any common grazing and that owner and the crofters agree that such land will form part of the said common grazing, then as from the date on which such rights are first exercisable by the crofters, the land shall form part of the common grazing, and this Act shall apply accordingly to the common grazing as so enlarged.
(2) The owner of any land which becomes part of a common grazing by virtue of subsection (1) above shall give notice to the Commission of the enlargement of that common grazing.
(1) Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any common grazings regulations for the time being in force under section 49 of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of an amount not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale; and in the case of a continuing offence to a further fine not exceeding 50 pence for each day on which the offence is continued after the grazings committee or the Commission have served notice on him warning him of the offence.
(2) Where it is prescribed by the common grazings regulations applicable to the common grazings of a township that the right of a crofter to share in such grazings shall be conditional on his making his croft available during the winter season for the accommodation of any stock belonging to other persons sharing in such grazings, any crofter may apply to the grazings committee for their consent to the exclusion of such stock from his croft or from part thereof, and if he is dissatisfied with the decision of the committee on such application he may appeal therefrom to the Commission.
Any consent given under this subsection by a grazings committee or, on appeal, by the Commission may be given subject to such conditions, if any, as the committee or the Commission, as the case may be, may think proper.
(3) The Commission may, on the application of any crofters interested, after consultation with the grazings committee, apportion a common grazing shared by two or more townships into separate parts for the exclusive use of the several townships or may apportion a part of such grazing for the exclusive use of one of the townships.
(4) The Commission may, on the application of any crofter interested, after consultation with the grazings committee, apportion a part of a common grazing (including the site of the dwelling-house of the crofter so applying if situated on the common grazing), other than a part on which the grazings committee have planted trees and which they are using as woodlands under section 48(4) of this Act, for the exclusive use of the applicant.
(5) An application under subsection (4) above shall be competent notwithstanding that every part of the grazing except the part in respect of which the application is made has already been apportioned under that subsection.
(6) Where the Commission in pursuance of subsection (3) or (4) above apportion to a township or to an individual a part of a common grazing for its or his exclusive use, they may make the apportionment subject to such conditions, including conditions with respect to the fencing or the draining of the apportioned part, as they may think fit.
(7) Notwithstanding anything in the [1880 c. 47.] Ground Game Act 1880, it shall be lawful for the crofters interested in a common grazing or in a part of a common grazing apportioned under subsection (3) above—
(a) to appoint not more than two of their number; and
(b) to authorise in writing one person bona fide employed by them for reward,
to kill and take ground game on the common grazing or the part thereof, as the case may be; and for the purposes of the said Act of 1880 any person appointed as aforesaid shall be deemed to be the occupier of the common grazing or the part thereof, but shall not have the right to authorise any other person to kill and take ground game, and any person authorised as aforesaid shall be deemed to have been authorised by the occupier of the common grazing or the part thereof to kill and take ground game with firearms or otherwise.
(8) The Commission may, on the application of any landlord or crofter interested, apportion lands held runrig among the holders thereof in such manner and subject to such conditions as appears to the Commission in the circumstances of the case to be just and expedient.
(9) The Commission may draw up a scheme regulating the use by crofters on the same estate of peat bogs, or of seaweed for the reasonable purposes of their crofts, or of heather or grass used for thatching purposes, and the charge for the use of all or any of these may be included in the rents fixed for the crofts.
(1) Without prejudice to any jurisdiction exercisable by it under any enactment, the Land Court shall have power to determine, either on the application of any person having an interest or on a reference made to it by the Commission, any question of fact or law arising under this Act including, without prejudice to the said generality—
(a) the question whether any holding is a croft;
(b) the question who is the tenant of any croft;
(c) any question as to the boundaries of a croft or of any pasture or grazing land a right in which forms part of a croft;
(d) the question whether any land is or forms part of a common pasture or grazing to which this Act applies:
Provided that the Land Court shall not have power under this subsection to determine—
(i) any question of a kind reserved by this Act to a court other than the Land Court; or
(ii) any question (other than a question of law) decided by the Secretary of State or the Commission in the discharge of any of his or their functions under this Act.
(2) The Land Court shall cause intimation to be made to the Commission of its determination on any question coming before it under this Act.
The principal clerk of the Land Court shall keep a book called the “Crofters Holdings Book” in which he shall record—
(a) anything sent to him by the Commission in accordance with section 2(3) of this Act,
(b) any agreement for a loan sent to him under section 43(3) of this Act.
(1) Any notice for the purposes of this Act shall be in writing, and any notice or other document required or authorised by or under this Act to be given to or served on any person shall be duly given or served if it is delivered to him or left at his proper address or sent to him by post.
(2) Where any notice or other document is to be given to or served on a person as being the person having any interest in land and it is not practicable after reasonable inquiry to ascertain his name or address, the notice or document may be given or served by addressing it to him by the description of the person having that interest in the land (naming it) and delivering the notice or document to some responsible person on the land or by affixing it, or a copy of it, to some conspicuous object on the land.
(1) Any person authorised by the Secretary of State or the Commission in that behalf shall have power at all reasonable times to enter on and inspect any land for the purpose of determining whether, and if so in what manner, any of the powers conferred on the Secretary of State or the Commission by this Act are to be exercised in relation to the land, or whether, and if so in what manner, any direction given under any such power has been complied with.
(2) Any person authorised as aforesaid who proposes to exercise any power of entry or inspection conferred by this Act shall if so required produce some duly authenticated document showing his authority to exercise the power.
(3) Admission to any land shall not be demanded as of right in the exercise of any such power as aforesaid unless in the case of land being used for residential purposes 7 days, or in the case of any other land 24 hours, notice of the intended entry has been given to the occupier of the land.
(4) Any person who obstructs any person authorised by the Secretary of State or the Commission exercising any such power as aforesaid shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of an amount not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.
(1) Where by virtue of any provision of this Act the Secretary of State is deemed to be authorised to purchase land compulsorily, then in relation to any such compulsory purchase the Lands Clauses Acts and other enactments mentioned in Part I of Schedule 2 to the [1947 c. 42.] Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure)(Scotland) Act 1947, shall be incorporated in accordance with the provisions of the said Part I as if the Secretary of State had been authorised under section 1 of that Act to purchase the land compulsorily; and the [1963 c. 51.] Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1963 shall have effect in relation to any such compulsory purchase subject to the provisions of Part II of that Schedule, of the proviso to section 23(9) of this Act and of subsection (2) below.
(2) The power conferred by section 39 of the Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1963 to withdraw a notice to treat shall not be exercisable in the case of a notice to treat which is deemed to have been served by virtue of section 23(9) or 39(9) or (10) of this Act.
(3) The Secretary of State may manage, farm, sell, let or otherwise deal with or dispose of land acquired by him under this Act in such manner as appears to him expedient for the purpose for which it was acquired.
(1) Any enactment in this Act providing, in relation to the taking of any action by the Secretary of State, for his taking the action after affording to a person an opportunity of making representations to the Secretary of State shall be construed as a provision that the Secretary of State shall comply with the following requirements.
(2) The Secretary of State shall give notice to the said person specifying the matter under consideration and informing him of the effect of subsection (3) below.
(3) A person to whom notice is given as aforesaid may within the time specified in the notice make representations to the Secretary of State in writing, and, whether or not representations are made to the Secretary of State in writing, may within the time so specified require that an opportunity be afforded to him of being heard by a person appointed by the Secretary of State for the purpose; and, if he so requires, such an opportunity shall be afforded to him and, on the same occasion, to any other person to whom under the enactment referred to in subsection (1) above the Secretary of State is required to afford such an opportunity, and the Secretary of State shall not take action in relation to the matter until he has considered any representations made as aforesaid.
(4) Where any enactment in this Act provides in relation to the taking of any action by the Commission for their taking the action after affording to a person an opportunity of making representations to them, the provisions of this section shall have effect in relation thereto with the substitution for references to the Secretary of State of references to the Commission.
(1) The expenses of the Commission shall be defrayed by the Secretary of State.
(2) All expenses incurred by the Secretary of State under the provisions of this Act shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.
(3) All sums received by the Secretary of State under the provisions of this Act shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
Any regulations made by the Secretary of State under this Act shall be embodied in a statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
“the [1955 c. 21.] 1955 Act” means the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955;
“the [1964 c. 41.] 1964 Act” means the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964;
“the [1972 c. 52.] 1972 Act” means the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972;
“authority possessing compulsory purchase powers” has the same meaning as in the 1972 Act;
“the Commission” means the Crofters Commission;
“cottar” has the meaning assigned by section 12(5) of this Act;
“croft” and “crofter” have the meanings assigned to them respectively by section 3 of this Act;
“crofting counties” means the former counties of Argyll, Caithness, Inverness, Orkney, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland and Zetland;
“croft land” has the meaning assigned to it by section 12(3) of this Act;
“development” has the same meaning as in section 19 of the 1972 Act, except that it includes the operations and uses of land referred to in paragraphs (a) and (e) of subsection (2) of that section;
“fixed equipment” has the like meaning as in the [1991 c. 55.] Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1991;
“functions” includes powers and duties;
“Land Court” means the Scottish Land Court;
“landlord” means—
in relation to a croft, any person for the time being entitled to receive the rents and profits, or to take possession of, the croft;
in relation to the site of the dwelling-house on or pertaining to the subject of a cottar—
where the cottar is the tenant of the subject, any person for the time being entitled to receive the rents and profits, or to take possession of the site, and
where the cottar is the occupier of the subject who pays no rent, the owner thereof;
“National Trust for Scotland” means the National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty incorporated by the Order confirmed by the [1935 c. iii.] National Trust for Scotland Order Confirmation Act 1935;
“permanent improvement” shall be construed in accordance with section 30(7) of this Act;
“prescribed” means prescibed by regulations made by the Secretary of State;
“predecessors in the tenancy” means in relation to a crofter the persons who before him have been tenants of the croft since it was last vacant;
“statutory successor” means any person who under this Act has succeeded or may succeed to a croft whether as a person to whom the tenancy of the croft has been transferred in pursuance of section 16(2) of the 1964 Act or as the executor, heir-at-law, legatee or assignee of his immediate predecessor being a crofter in occupation of the croft;
“the site of the dwelling-house” has the meaning assigned to it by section 12(4) of this Act;
“Whitsunday” and “Martinmas” mean respectively 28th May and 28th November.
(2) Any reference in this Act to a member of a person’s or crofter’s or former crofter’s or deceased crofter’s family is a reference to the wife or husband of that person or crofter or former crofter or deceased crofter or his son-in-law or daughter- in-law or anyone who would be, or would in any circumstances have been, entitled to succeed to his estate on intestacy by virtue of the 1964 Act.
This Act shall apply to land an interest in which belongs to Her Majesty in right of the Crown and land an interest in which belongs to a government department or is held in trust for Her Majesty for the purposes of a government department, but in its application to any land an interest in which belongs or is held as aforesaid this Act shall have effect subject to such modifications as may be prescribed.
(1) The transitional provisions and savings contained in Schedule 6 to this Act shall have effect.
(2) The enactments—
(a) specified in Part I of Schedule 7 to this Act so far as they apply in the crofting counties;
(b) specified in Part II of that Schedule,
are hereby repealed to the extent specified in column 3 of that Schedule.
(1) This Act may be cited as the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.
(2) Subject to section 28(17) of this Act, this Act shall come into operation on the expiration of 2 months commencing with the date on which it is passed.
(3) This Act extends to Scotland only.
Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993