ABSTRACT
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 introduces a new right of responsible access in Scotland. The legislation aims to reflect a longstanding tradition of tolerance and respect towards the need for people to move freely within the countryside. Prior to the new Act, access rights in Scotland constituted a complex combination of common and statute law; apart from routes explicitly defined as rights of way in common law, countryside users required express or implied consent to access which could be revoked by landowners at their discretion. This created a lack of clarity resulting in confusion and dispute where recreational users attempted to exercise rights they did not possess.
