Usury, or Oker; is the taking, or agreeing to take, in return for the loan of money, more than the legal interest in the place where the loan is contracted. Before the Reformation, while taking of interest was prohibited, wadsets and rights of annual rent were usual and very injurious covers for loans, and were justly superseded by rendering a stipulation for interest legal. The statute of 12 Anne, sess. 2, c. 16, which in a great measure supersedes the statutes 1594, c. 222; 1597, c. 251; and 1621, c. 28, made five per cent, the legal interest of Britain; describes the crime of usury; and fixes as its consequences, penalties and nullity.
Definition source
Bell, William, A Dictionary and Digest of the Law of Scotland, 7th ed. rev. George Ross (Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute, 1861), s.v. “Usury.” Public domain.
Legal Subject: Usury |
| Case | Date | Legal Subject | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crosby and Attorney v. Maidment | 1798 | Debt, Aliment, Creditor, Assignment, Usury, Interest | |
| Gloag v. Thomson and Others | 1793 | Debt, Usury, Bill of Exchange, Interest, Aliment, Creditor | Gloag petitioned the Court of Session to alter the Lord Ordinary's interlocutor, which had assoilzied Thomson and the other defenders from an action for repayment of a £50 counter-bill. He subsequently petitioned again to alter the Court's subsequent interlocutor in the same cause. The representatives of James Thomson argued that the £50 bill was valid and that a prior bill for £107 10s had been paid. |
| Hugh Montgomery v. Strang, Lennox and Company | 1798 | Decreet-Arbitral, Tack, Arbitration, Usury, Reduction, Interlocutor | Strang, Lennox and Company, cotton-spinners in Eaglesham, petitioned the Court to alter a recent interlocutor respecting their claim for damages against Hugh Montgomery of Bogstown, suspender, arising from a prior loan and arbitration dispute. Montgomery submitted answers opposing the chargers' application. |
