Common law rights

Under the common law of Scotland, sitting tenants have protection from eviction without the court's authority.

In other words, the landlord cannot simply put a tenant on the street, as the landlord would have to obtain a decree of ejection by the court. This type of eviction is known as ejection brevi manu. According to legal authorities, such an ejection would give rise to a claim of damages for 'wrongous ejection'. It should be noted that this common law position has effectively been supplemented by the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 and the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988. However, the common law still remains intact as an important source of tenants' rights.