Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
At its meeting on 29 May 2018, the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the delegated powers provisions in the Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) (Scotland) Bill as amended at Stage 2 ("the Bill").i The Committee submits this report to the Parliament under Rule 9.7.9 of the Standing Orders.
The Bill was introduced by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Michael Matheson MSP, on 6 November 2017. The Bill completed Stage 2 on 17 May 2018. The Equalities and Human Rights Committee is the lead Committee.
The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee published its Stage 1 Report on the Bill on 20 December 2017.i The Committee reported that it was content with the powers proposed in the Bill at Stage 1.
As outlined in the Financial Memorandum, the Bill aims to correct a historical wrong, in terms of how certain criminal laws in the past were used to discriminate against same-sex sexual activity, where the same activity if undertaken between people of different sexes was not criminalised. The Bill aims to ensure that people convicted under those historical laws will receive a pardon, and will separately be able to apply to the Scottish Ministers to seek to have such criminal conviction information removed (disregarded) from specific sets of official central records, if certain criteria are met. Both the pardon and the “disregard” will apply where the same activity would now be lawful.
The Government has lodged a Revised Delegated Powers Memorandum after Stage 2.i
The Committee considered each of the delegated powers provisions in the Bill as amended at Stage 2.
The Committee determined that it did not need to draw the Parliament's attention to the delegated powers in the following provisions:
Section 10(3) and (4) - Prescribing the manner in which references to disregarded convictions are removed from official records
Section 10(5) - Prescribing who "relevant record keepers" are for the purposes of the disregard scheme