Chamber and committees

I am not convinced at the moment, but I am happy to take any recommendations that the committee would like to put forward.

I will bring in Michael Paparakis to respond to that.

I do not. I refer to the SLC’s recommendation.

I think that one of my officials on the legal side—perhaps Jamie Bowman—would like to respond.

Yes. So far, we have had positive engagement with the officials at the Office of the Advocate General, the Scotland Office and other United Kingdom Government departments on using a section 104 order to apply the bill’s provisions to pension trusts.

Scottish Government officials who have been working on the bills are aware of the provisions in each. Trust law is relevant to charities only where the charity takes the legal form of a trust. Therefore, the bill will not impact on all charities. Generally, trust law and charity law operate in parallel, as is the case where charities take other legal forms, such as companies. As both bills progress through Parliament, officials will continue to work closely together to consider the ways in which they interact.

I am very willing to work with the committee on the issue. I am committed to introducing reform that would prevent a person who has been convicted of murder from being an executor of their victim’s estate, and my officials and I will explore what can be done in the context of the bill to ensure that that happens.

As the committee is aware, the Scottish Law Commission did not produce recommendations on the matter, so the bill as introduced does not mention it. There was consensus on the matter when the Scottish Government consulted on it in 2019, which is why we are committed to introducing reform at the next legislative opportunity. The existing law is not clear.

I understand that Professor Paisley has written to the committee with his view, but that the leading academic textbook on confirmation of executors appears to take a different view. Depending on questions of scope, the bill could be used to bring the needed clarity. My officials and I are actively considering the issue. Recently, the SLC announced that it will look at executory law in its eleventh programme. I will consider our approach in the light of that announcement.

It is important that whatever is taken forward is capable of working in practice, because we do not want to have a situation in which the deceased’s estate cannot be administered or the administration of it is called into question. That is not to say that the bill does nothing. Section 6 will make it more straightforward to remove a murderer from the role of executor, and the jurisdiction is extended to the sheriff court. However, I reiterate my commitment to introducing reforms that would prevent a person who has been convicted of murder from being an executor of their victim’s estate.

I do not think that the bill is going to produce much litigation—certainly not in the long term—but I recognise the cost issue. I am sorry, but I do not have information on that in front of me.

No. It is still under consideration.

We will work together to ensure that that is clear.