National Context

Access legislation

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 establishes a statutory right of responsible access to land and inland waters for outdoor recreation, crossing land, and some educational and commercial purposes. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code gives detailed guidance on your responsibilities when exercising access rights and if you are managing land and water.

Find out more about the Land Reform Act and other relavant legislation...

National Policy

Information on the national policy areas that apply to outdoor access and paths, including:

• Health & wellbeing
• Strengthening communities
• Economic development
• Sustainable transport
• Scottish rural development programme

Read more on national outdoor access policy...

Legal Cases

A number of access related cases have now gone to court judgements.

To find more about recent judgements log-on to:

Scotways - latest news on access cases

Scottish Courts - for detailed court judgements