The Scottish Parliament and law making

3.5 Delegated powers and the Scotland Act 1998

You may be wondering what relevance this all has to law making in Scotland. Section 35 of The Scotland Act 1998 (as amended) helps illustrate some of the points made.

Figure 6 Section 35 Scotland Act 1998

This section gives the Secretary of State (a UK Government post) power to prevent the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from submitting a Bill of the Scottish Parliament for Royal Assent in certain circumstances. This applies to both devolved and reserved matters. Note the use of words such as ‘reasonable grounds’ and ‘interests of defence or national security’ which are not defined in the Act.

Figure 7 Secretary of State for Scotland logo
Figure 8 Section 63A Scotland Act 1998

Listen to the following audio discussion in which academics from the OU Law School, Simon Lavis and Edwin Parks, explore delegated legislation and reflect on its use and place in law making.

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The use of delegated legislation
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OpenLearn - The Scottish Parliament and law making
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