LAWYERS have rubbished claims by Labour’s Jackie Baillie that the Scottish Government is attempting to bring back controversial warrant sales.
Baillie has accused the SNP of trying to reintroduce the policy two decades after it was scrapped through the new Moveable Transactions Bill.
A warrant sale was a statutory means of collecting debt in Scotland but was binned in 2001 by MSPs, with many concerned it affected the poorest sections of society who genuinely were unable to pay a debt.
It became an extremely contentious political issue in the late 1980s when Scottish councils used the legislation against poll tax defaulters.
This involved councils applying for a warrant from the local court to collect the money owed by non-payers. The debt collectors were permitted to enter a debtor's home and poind - put a value on - items, which would be subject to a later auction under warrant.
The Moveable Transactions Bill – a draft version of which was published in May – aims to modernise and simplify the law of moveable transactions and will enable both businesses and individuals to use their assets to raise finance, by selling debts or by granting security over moveable property – such as plant and machinery, vehicles or intellectual property.
It is supported by legal experts and the Law Society of Scotland, but Baillie believes the Scottish Government wants to use the Bill to bring back poindings and warrant sales.
Now lawyers have called her out on social media branding her claims “disgraceful” and “inaccurate”.
Advocate Jonathan Brown said of Baillie’s claims on Twitter: “This is properly disgraceful. The Bill is the product of years of careful work by the Scottish law commission.
“On no conceivable view does it bring back either poindings or warrant sales. Having coherent property law isn’t a party political issue.”
This is properly disgraceful. The bill is the product of years of careful work by the Scottish law commission. On no conceivable view does it bring back either poindings or warrant sales. Having coherent property law isn’t a party political issue. https://t.co/wwcg4YKMFZ
— Jonathan Brown (@Broonjunior) July 25, 2022
Meanwhile, Roddy Dunlop QC, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, said: “'The return of warrant sales' is a great headline/political point. But it’s not accurate.
“WS [warrant sales] were when any debt over the minimum could be enforced by seizing debtor’s goods and selling them. Rightly abolished.
“The return of warrant sales” is a great headline/political point. But it’s not accurate. WS were when any debt over the minimum could be enforced by seizing debtor’s goods and selling them. Rightly abolished. The bill does NOT propose reintroduction. Rather / https://t.co/7aeM9xovC1
— Roddy Dunlop QC (@RoddyQC) July 25, 2022
“The bill does NOT propose reintroduction. Rather it allows a specific piece of moveable property to be 'pledged' as security, bringing Scots law into line with many other systems.
“There may be potential for abuse, of course, but in general this is a positive step and not a regressive one.”
Campaigning lawyer Mike Dailly - a solicitor advocate at Govan Law Centre - warned the impact of the Bill could be "extremely prejudicial to the rights and financial wellbeing of Scottish consumers" and “would create a new form of warrant sales” in a column for the Glasgow Times.
But the Scottish Government has defended the Bill.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: "These claims misunderstand and misrepresent the Bill’s provisions. The Bill will not apply to ordinary household goods worth up to £1000 and that value could be increased in future as appropriate.
"Consumers would benefit from these proposals because securing the debt against previously untapped moveable assets would generally result in lower interest rates than an unsecured loan. The bill in no sense represents a return to warrant sales of property belonging to those unable to pay debts."
