Research

Working in a 'mixed' legal system (i.e. one which combines elements of the common law and the civilian tradition), ECPL members are well placed to conduct research on European private law, and they have been prominent in projects such as the Draft Common Frame of Reference, the Principles of European Contract Law, the Principles of European Trust Law, and the Trento Project. In the absence of a civil code, the study of private law often involves a consideration of Scotland’s rich and diverse legal history, and much of the writing of the Centre is historically informed.

Another major research interest is the comparative study of mixed legal systems. In recent years members of the Centre have collaborated with colleagues in other mixed jurisdictions, most notably South Africa and Louisiana, to produce a series of comparative studies.

The Edinburgh Law School is an associate partner of the Ius Commune Research School, a joint collaboration of the Universities of Amsterdam, Leuven, Maastricht and Utrecht.

Three monograph series are particularly associated with the Edinburgh Centre for Private Law and are edited by ECPL members.

Edinburgh Studies in Law

Edinburgh Studies in Law is an important series that was launched by Edinburgh University Press in 2005. It aims to explore contemporary substantive law from an international and comparative perspective. The series editor is Professor Alexandra Braun.

View the Edinburgh Studies in Law series

Studies in Scots Law

Studies in Scots Law is a series published by the Edinburgh Legal Education Trust, which explores key topics in the law of Scotland. The series editor is Professor Kenneth Reid. Volumes so far published are:

Chathuni Jayathilaka, "Sale and the Implied Warranty of Soundness" (2019)

Sale is a transaction that is central to the economic lifeblood of a nation. Yet the Scots common law contract of sale, which regulates transactions featuring corporeal immoveable and incorporeal property, has been subjected to little analysis in the past two centuries. The default rules underlying such contracts have never been coherently systematised, and central issues are plagued by significant gaps in knowledge. This is the first book on the common law of sale since Mungo Brown’s A Treatise on the Law of Sale was published in 1821. The focus of the book is an assertion made by Kenneth Reid in 1987 that the law in this area developed in a unified manner, with the same set of default principles applying regardless of the type of property involved. This is an attractive idea, since it would improve our understanding of the law in this area, but it is an untested one. The book examines this idea through a study of the implied warranty of soundness. Topics explored include the warranty’s origins, development and substantive content; the contentious issue of its application to transactions featuring corporeal immoveable property; and the hitherto unexamined issue of its application to incorporeal property. 

Daniel J Carr, "Ideas of Equity" (2017)

Equity has been little analysed in Scotland, partly, no doubt, due to the absence of the institutional split between 'law' and 'equity' found in England and other common-law systems. That absence can make the topic hard to grapple with, because it can be unclear what exactly is meant by 'equity' and by 'equitable rules'. Statements, such as Lord Cooper's that, in Scotland, 'law and equity have never been separated, and equity has tended to predominate', require clarification and contextualisation if they are to be property understood. Ideas of Equity is the first book on equity in Scotland, and on substantial equitable rules, since the final edition of Lord Kames's celebrated Principles of Equity in 1778. It seeks to examine the different understandings of equity which have been associated with different areas of private law. In particular, it considers how English rules have interacted with Scottish law. In a series of separate chapters, the text reviews the law of unjustified enrichment, trusts, constructive trusts, and fiduciary law, and explains how they have been formed and influenced by different understandings of equity. Each chapter charts the historical development from the early-modern period up to the present day, and considers how an understanding of equity which is sometimes shared with English law has affected the development of Scottish rules, and what this may imply for the future development of the law. The book begins with a general survey of the field and ends with an assessment of the nature and reach of equity in Scots law.

Jill Robbie, "Private Water Rights" (2015)

This book, the first on the law of water in Scotland to be published for more than 100 years, provides a comprehensive account of the rights of landowners with resepct to water that flows through their land.  The book is in three parts. The first part analyses the extent to which water can be subject to ownership. The second considers the ownership of land under water including the effect water can have on the boundaries of land through the doctrines of alluvion and avulsion. The final, and most substantial, part investigates the rights and obligations of landowners regarding water, with a special emphasis on the role of common interest.  The modern law is set against the background of the slow and often uncertain evolution of the rules over many centuries. Each part begins with Roman law before tracing how the law came to be received and developed by the institutional writers and the courts. It finishes with an analysis of the law as we find it today. Comparative reference is made to the law in England, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Quebec and Louisiana.

Craig Anderson, "Possession of Corporeal Moveables" (2015)

This is the first book-length treatment of any part of the law of possession. The focus is on corporeal moveable property, but the book also contains general discussion of the requirements of possession and its role in Scots law. Possession is an area of Scots Law about which little has been written and which contains much that is uncertain. The book covers the acquisition of possession; the loss of possession; the acquisition of possession by momentary control; the effectiveness of symbolic acts of possession; and the special problems raised by the possession of animals.

Andrew JM Steven, "Pledge and Lien" (2008)

This is the first comprehensive account of the law of pledge and lien in Scotland. As well as offering a detailed analysis of the current law, it traces the historical development of the two securities, and examines Roman, English and other influences in the context of Scotland as a mixed legal system.

Ross Gilbert Anderson, "Assignation" (2008)

Assignation is the Scottish term for the transfer of rights (sometimes also known in English as assignment or cession). For many centuries, throughout Europe, the transfer of rights was not recognised, but this was not the case in Scotland. This book is the first detailed study of the Scots law of assignation. Taking the claim to payment as the paradigm right, the book places assignation in its comparative and historical context, and distinguishes assignation from those other legal devices by which a creditor may utilise his receivables. The text exhumes a great deal of forgotten case law and makes extensive citation of authority, both from Scotland and other jurisdictions.

Books in the Studies in Scots Law Series may be ordered from Avizandum Law Bookshop.

Visit the Avizandum Law Bookshop website

Old Studies in Scots Law

Old Studies in Scots Law reprints key historical texts on the law of Scotland. The series editor is Professor Kenneth Reid and the publisher is the Edinburgh Legal Education Trust.

Five volumes have so far been published:

• George Joseph Bell, "Principles of the Law of Scotland"(4th edn, 1839; with an introduction by Kenneth G C Reid)
• George Watson, "Bell's Dictionary and Digest of the Law of Scotland" (7th edn; with an introduction by Ross Gilbert Anderson)
• William Forbes, "The Institutes of the Law of Scotland" (1722 and 1730; with an introduction by Hector L MacQueen)
• Lord Kames, "Principles of Equity" (3rd edn, 1778; with an introduction by Dan Carr)
• John Erskine, "An Institute of the Law of Scotland "(1st edn, 1773; with an introduction by Kenneth G C Reid)

Books in the Old Studies in Scots Law Series cost £30 and may be ordered from Avizandum Law Bookshop.

Visit the Avizandum Law Bookshop website

Special discounted prices are available for university members of staff (£15) and for students (£10). Please apply directly to Kenneth Reid.