An Act of the Scottish Parliament making provision for:

• a land rights and responsibilities statement (to be reviewed every five years) to contain principles for guiding the development of public policy on land rights;
• establishing a Scottish Land Commission (to monitor the system governing ownership and management of land and to recommend changes in the public interest);
• a public register of persons with a controlling interest in land (aimed at improving transparency of landownership);
• requiring that Ministers issue guidance on the circumstances in which landowners should carry out engagement with the community;
• empowering communities to buy land where it is necessary to further sustainable development;
• the application of non-domestic rates to shootings and deer forests;
• empowering local authorities to change the use of inalienable common good land;
• additional powers for Scottish Natural Heritage to intervenewhere the management of deer by landowners and occupiers is not delivering in the public interest;
• amendments and procedural clarifications to be made to the access rights over land  contained in Part 1 Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003; and
• reform of the agricultural holdings legislation (aimed at improving relationships and re-dressing imbalances between tenants and landlords).

The Act received Royal Assent on 22 April but further regulations are required to bring the various provisions into force.

The Act is available here.