The Contract (Third Party Rights) (Scotland) Act 2017 (The 'Act')

The Contract (Third Party Rights) (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 21 September 2017 and received Royal Assent on 30 October 2017. As yet, there is no confirmed date for the Act to come into force (although it's likely to be early 2018).

Significant changes introduced by the Act

The Act introduces a number of changes to the law including, among others, the following:

The abolishment of "jus quaesitum tertio". This is the common law position which enables rights (but not obligations) to be conferred upon a party, even if that party is not an original party to the contract. It is a historical legal principle which is largely considered to be uncommercial and inflexible as a result of (1) the requirement to show the contracting parties' intention to confer a right on the third party and (2) the irrevocability of the right which is intended to be conferred. The Act, therefore, represents an attempt by the Scottish Parliament to modernise this outdated position. A third party can now enforce a right under a contract, even though it is not an original contracting party. The third party does not need to...

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