| Scotland |
This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Scotland in the UK
Scotland in the EU
|
|
Other countries · Atlas |
The Scotland Bill is a bill proposed by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition UK Government, with broad support from the opposition Labour Party, setting out amendments to the Scotland Act 1998, with the aim of devolving further powers to Scotland.
Presented to the House of Commons by the Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore, the Bill received its first reading on St Andrew's Day (30 November), 2010, and it is intended that it will receive royal assent during 2011. When the Bill received an unopposed second reading on 27 January 2011, Moore described the legislation as the largest transfer of fiscal powers from central Government since the creation of the United Kingdom.[1] However, the UK government had said it would not pass the bill unless it had prior consent from the Scottish Parliament,[2] in the form of a legislative consent motion, and the governing Scottish National Party have indicated that they plan to block the bill.[3][4]
Though the Scottish National Party support some parts of the Bill, they oppose others. In particular, they consider the income tax proposals to contain flaws which would leave Scotland worse off, and claim that the Bill would return some presently devolved powers to Westminster, a transfer to which they are opposed.[5] In September 2011 John Swinney said that the Scottish Parliament could "not possibly" agree with the provisions of the Bill as currently drafted.[6]
Contents |
The proposed legislation is based on the final report of the Calman Commission, which was established by an opposition Labour Party motion in the Scottish Parliament in December 2007, against the wishes of the Scottish National Party minority government.
Professor Jim Gallagher, the civil servant who drafted the Bill, has been appointed to advise the Scotland Bill Committee of the Scottish Parliament, convened by Wendy Alexander, whose parliamentary motion started the whole Calman process.[7]
There is a proposal to amend section 57(2) of the Scotland Act 1998, which provides that the Lord Advocate, as a member of the Scottish Executive, has no power to do anything in contravention of the European Convention rights. Given that, alongside being the adviser to and representative of the Scottish Government in Scots law, the Lord Advocate is head of the system of criminal prosecution in Scotland and every prosecution in a Scottish court proceeds with his/her authority, this provision effectively allows any human rights issue raised in any criminal proceedings in Scotland effectively to be appealed to the UK Supreme Court as a constitutional "devolution issue".[8] The Supreme Court consists of two Supreme Court judges from Scotland and 10 judges from other parts of the United Kingdom. When hearing appeals the Supreme Court sits with a bench of at least five judges, so even if both Scottish judges are present for a Scottish appeal, the majority of the bench will be judges who may not be especially well versed in Scots law and criminal procedure. According to Lord Hope of Craighead, the Deputy President of the Supreme Court, non-Scottish judges will in practice defer to their Scottish colleagues in Scottish cases, and often simply concur with judgements written by the Scottish judges. However, the situation is seen by some, including the Scottish Government, as undermining the status of the High Court of Justiciary as the final court of appeal in criminal matters in Scots law, and even of undermining the integrity of Scots law. The Advocate General for Scotland asked an expert group, chaired by Sir David Edward, to consider this issue and make recommendations, which led to the amendments to the Scotland Bill proposed by the UK Government. The Scottish Government remains concerned that the amendments may not fully address the issue, particularly as a result of the decision of the Supreme Court in Fraser v HM Advocate, and appointed their own expert group, chaired by Lord McCluskey, to consider the matter and report back.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||