Scotland Act 1998

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"Scotland Act" redirects here; for the earlier, repealed bill, see Scotland Act 1978.

The Scotland Act 1998 (1998 c. 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is the Act which established the devolved Scottish Parliament.

It was introduced by the Labour government after there was a majority of 'Yes-Yes' for the creation of a parliament for Scotland with tax varying powers in the Scotland referendum, 1997. The Act creates the Scottish Parliament, sets out how Members of the Scottish Parliament are to be elected, makes some provision about the internal operation of the Parliament (although many issues are left for the Parliament itself to regulate) and sets out the process for the Parliament to consider and pass Bills which become Acts of the Scottish Parliament once they receive Royal Assent. The Act specifically asserts the continued power of the UK Parliament to legislate in respect of Scotland;^[1] thereby upholding the concept of Westminster's absolute Parliamentary sovereignty.

The Act also provides for the creation of a Scottish Executive consisting of a First Minister and other Ministers appointed by the Queen with the approval of the Parliament. The Scottish Executive includes the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General for Scotland.

The Act sets out the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. Rather than listing the matters over which the Parliament does have control, it specifies the matters over which it does not. These are known as reserved matters.^[2] It further designates a list of statutes which are not amenable to amendment or repeal by the Parliament^[3] which includes the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Scotland Act itself. Even when acting within its legislative competence, the Act further constrains the powers of the Parliament by inihibiting it from acting in a manner incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights or European Community law.^[4] The same constraints apply to acts of the Scottish Executive.^[5]

The Act also sets up mechanisms to resolve disputes over questions about legislative competence of the Parliament and powers of the Executive. The ultimate appeal in such matters lies to the the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. It also allows the powers of the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive to be adjusted over time by agreement between both Parliaments by means of an Order in Council.

The Act was passed on November 17, 1998, and received royal assent two days later on November 19. The first elections were held in May 1999 and the Scottish Parliament and Executive assumed their full powers on 1 July 1999.

The Act was amended by the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 to end the link between the number of MPs at Westminster and the number of constituency MSPs.