Committee
Subordinate Legislation Committee, 03 Nov 2009
03 Nov 2009 · S3 · Subordinate Legislation Committee
Item of business
Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Thank you. We might return to your offer to talk about stage 2 amendments, depending on how the questioning goes. You are free to call on your officials to pick up on more detailed points, as you said.Will the creation of a new set of interpretation rules that are different from the rules in the Interpretation Act 1978 and the interpretation order result in inconsistency and create confusion for practitioners and end users of the law?
In the same item of business
The Convener:
LD
Item 2 is our second evidence session on the bill. I welcome the minister for Parliament—his proper title is Minister for Parliamentary Business—Mr Bruce Cra...
The Minister for Parliamentary Business (Bruce Crawford):
SNP
I have a few minutes of introductory remarks to set the tone and give the background to where we are. It would be useful to put on the record some informatio...
The Convener:
LD
Thank you. We might return to your offer to talk about stage 2 amendments, depending on how the questioning goes. You are free to call on your officials to p...
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
Let us start by considering part 1, which sets out a series of default rules for the interpretation of future acts of the Scottish Parliament and future subo...
The Convener:
LD
Thank you. My second question arises from something that Iain Jamieson said to the committee last week. Section 1(2)(b) provides that the provisions of part ...
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
I will let Colin Wilson respond to that.
Colin Wilson (Scottish Government Office of the Scottish Parliamentary Counsel):
The first point to note is that the provision in section 1(2)(b) is not new; it simply replicates the existing position. It is a generalised version of the q...
The Convener:
LD
Thank you. Again on section 1(2)(b), the Scottish Law Commission suggested to us that the provisions in part 1 would be more use to the reader if the qualifi...
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
I will let Colin Wilson say something if he wants to, but I do not agree with the suggestion. The reader needs to be aware of the general provisions in secti...
Colin Wilson:
I do not have anything to add to that.
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
I have probably shown the distinction. Because section 1(2) is a general provision about the circumstances in which part 1 does not apply, section 1 is the a...
Ian McKee (Lothians) (SNP):
SNP
The concern that was expressed to us was that often a person who is not legally qualified reads the provisions, and it is sometimes difficult for them to rea...
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
When someone examines any piece of legislation, the appropriate place for them to start is at the beginning, where the ground rules are set and the foundatio...
Ian McKee:
SNP
The concern was put to us in evidence.
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
Many—although perhaps not all—acts of the Scottish Parliament lay out the ground rules in part 1 and explain how they will apply to the rest of the legislati...
Colin Wilson:
Yes. There are other provisions, such as interpretation provisions, at the end of an act. There are real risks in looking at provisions in isolation without ...
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
That is the key point.
The Convener:
LD
We have a robust response from the minister.
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab):
Lab
The application of acts and instruments to the Crown has been one of the more controversial aspects of the bill. That was reflected in the evidence that we t...
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
I was surprised by the strength of feeling on the subject. I would have thought that, after 30 years, we would want to modernise a piece of legislation and t...
The Convener:
LD
Now you may never be asked to Balmoral.
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
That is probably finished now.
Malcolm Chisholm:
Lab
I tend to agree with you on the issue, so I am probably not the best person to pursue it with you. I do not know whether my colleagues want to or whether the...
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
That is a technical question, so I will let Colin Wilson deal with it.
Colin Wilson:
Section 8 deals with acts of the Scottish Parliament that are to come into force by commencement order. It allows commencement orders to make provision for d...
Malcolm Chisholm:
Lab
So, it would not apply in general; it would just apply to certain transitional provisions. Is that what you are saying?
Colin Wilson:
I am suggesting that if the power is there, it is a matter of judgment in each case as to whether its use is appropriate and whether the case is simple and s...
Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con):
Con
I have a couple of questions on sections 12 and 14, which deal with references to European Union and other legislative provisions. In connection with section...
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
Given that we are talking about ambulatory issues in legislation, I will hand over to Colin Wilson.
Colin Wilson:
It might be helpful if I provided a bit of explanation. It is worth setting out that section 12 creates certainty as to what is meant where legislation refer...