Donation in Scots Law

Abstract

This paper is a Scots law contribution to a collection of essays on the laws of donation in the European jurisdictions, with comparative introduction and conclusions. The research has underpinned the work on donation carried out in the Study Group for a European Civil Code and its Principles of European Law series, and also published in the final edition of the Draft Common Frame of Reference. The paper's original contribution is an analysis of the relationship in Scots law between the contract of donation and the gratuitous unilateral promise, which is binding if certain conditions are met. The paper notes that, possibly reflecting the influence of English law, donation is today seen as primarily about transfers of property; but that otherwise much of the law continues to reflect its Civilian origins.

Keywords: law, comparative law, Scots law, obligations, contract of donation, unilateral promise, gratuitousness, transfer of property