Instruments Not Laid Before <br />the Parliament
Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 (Commencement No 1 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2006 (SSI 2006/239)
The legal brief raises a point about the vires of the order. Do members want to raise any issues?
We should ask some questions on the order, because there is a question about the vires. The Executive has given a power to the chief constable of Fife, but he does not necessarily have to use that power within Fife. That may be because of a problem with the drafting of the primary legislation, the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, but it seems odd that the use of the power is not limited geographically, given that the intention is to allow a pilot scheme within Fife. If a person who is under 18 is given permission from the chief constable to buy alcohol as part of the pilot scheme and then buys alcohol outwith Fife, would that be an offence? I suspect that it probably would not be an offence, because the order does not limit the chief constable's power to Fife. We need to raise several queries with the Executive to clarify what the purpose is and the reason why the order is drafted as it is. If the reason is a drafting problem with the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, the Executive should come clean about that.
The legal brief suggests that the reason is to do with the drafting of the enabling legislation. Do members agree to raise that issue with the Executive?
Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 (Commencement) Order 2006 <br />(SSI 2006/251)
No substantive points arise, although we will raise a minor point with the Executive, if members agree.
I thank colleagues for coming. The committee's next meeting will be on Tuesday 23 May.
Meeting closed at 11:09.