In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “the M11955 Act” means the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955;

• “the M21964 Act” means the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964;

• F1“the 1997 Act” means the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997;

• “authority possessing compulsory purchase powers” has the same meaning as in the 1972 Act;

• “the Commission” means the Crofters Commission;

• “cottar” has the meaning assigned by section 12(5) of this Act;

• “croft” and “crofter” have the meanings assigned to them respectively by section 3 of this Act;

• “crofting counties” means the former counties of Argyll, Caithness, Inverness, Orkney, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland and Zetland;

• “croft land” has the meaning assigned to it by section 12(3) of this Act;

• “development” has the same meaning as in F2section 26 of the 1997 Act, except that it includes the operations and uses of land referred to in paragraphs (a) and (e) of subsection (2) of that section;

• “fixed equipment” has the like meaning as in the M3Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1991;

• “functions” includes powers and duties;

• “Land Court” means the Scottish Land Court;

• “landlord” means—

  1. a

     in relation to a croft, any person for the time being entitled to receive the rents and profits, or to take possession of, the croft;

  2. b

     in relation to the site of the dwelling-house on or pertaining to the subject of a cottar—

  3. i

     where the cottar is the tenant of the subject, any person for the time being entitled to receive the rents and profits, or to take possession of the site, and

  4. ii

     where the cottar is the occupier of the subject who pays no rent, the owner thereof;

• “National Trust for Scotland” means the National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty incorporated by the Order confirmed by the M4National Trust for Scotland Order Confirmation Act 1935;

• “permanent improvement” shall be construed in accordance with section 30(7) of this Act;

• “prescribed” means prescibed by regulations made by the Secretary of State;

• “predecessors in the tenancy” means in relation to a crofter the persons who before him have been tenants of the croft since it was last vacant;

• “statutory successor” means any person who under this Act has succeeded or may succeed to a croft whether as a person to whom the tenancy of the croft has been transferred in pursuance of section 16(2) of the 1964 Act or as the executor, heir-at-law, legatee or assignee of his immediate predecessor being a crofter in occupation of the croft;

• “the site of the dwelling-house” has the meaning assigned to it by section 12(4) of this Act;

• “Whitsunday” and “Martinmas” mean respectively 28th May and 28th November.

Any reference in this Act to a member of a person’s or crofter’s or former crofter’s or deceased crofter’s family is a reference to the wife or husband of that person or crofter or former crofter or deceased crofter or his son-in-law or daughter- in-law or anyone who would be, or would in any circumstances have been, entitled to succeed to his estate on intestacy by virtue of the 1964 Act.