The Law and Urban Change: Some Nineteenth-Century Scottish Evidence

Abstract

The constitutional change which was embodied in the Union of Parliaments in 1707 provided for the retention of distinctive Scottish codes governing banking, the church and the law. Such a guarantee ensured that the economic, social and cultural idiosyncracies of Scotland would not be absorbed or Anglicized, and that in the long term the unique institutional framework would continue to stamp its character upon most aspects of daily Scottish life, urban and rural. The tacit acceptance of these legal and institutional differences in certain parts of the kingdom became compounded over the decades so that attempts to modify most aspects of Scottish urban life required separate treatment rather than an extension of British Statutes. Indeed tables of parliamentary statutes in most years display a significant number of purely Scottish bills, thereby reflecting the necessity of specialized legal draughtsmanship, skilled in the peculiarities of Scots law, to accommodate the changes desired north of the border. Two important consequences of these arrangements are worth noting. First, the basis of the Scottish legal and administrative structure was distinct, and second, to amend that framework, separate Scottish bills were frequently required, and thus the timing, coverage and intent of the law were at variance with the remainder of the country.

Trusts in mixed jurisdictions

“…The Roman law texts, and in particular the passage from Iavolenus in D. 36.1.48 (46), were well-known 196 but the ius commune elaboration of them was not. As mentioned above, there had not been an active civil law doctrine in the Netherlands after the codification and Scotland's interest in the ius commune had sharply declined at about the same time, subsequently shown by that Scots law students towards Germa-ny 197 did not lead them "to grasp, seize upon, absorb, what was happening in 19 th century German scholarship and seek to apply it at home" 198 .…”

The study of urban form in Great Britain

“…These control the activities of all agents of change (assuming, of course, that all development is legal). Yet the nature and impact of legislation and control have rarely been directly studied (Gaskell, 1983;Rodger, 1979a) and have formed the focus of a recent ISUF Working Party (Larkham, 2001). While it may be a truism to assert that 'planning does make a difference to urban form', a recent study of this title based particularly on Scottish evidence reveals some interesting findings.…”