Subordinate Legislation Committee, 16 Nov 2004

Meeting date: Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Official Report 123KB pdf

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Instruments Not Laid Before the Parliament

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Instruments Not Laid Before <br />the Parliament

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Act of Adjournal (Criminal Procedure Rules Amendment No 5) (Miscellaneous) 2004 (SSI 2004/481)

No points arise on the act of adjournal.

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Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 (Commencement No 1) Order 2004 <br />(SSI 2004/487)

We have already referred to this order this morning, but the legal advisers point out a further technical issue that should previously have been picked up by the legal advisers and the drafting team. It is rather complicated to say the least. Paragraph 77 of the legal brief outlines the issue. It says:

"This Order falls into a well-known trap as a result of what is assumed to be a drafting defect in the parent Act. The Order is made as a statutory instrument. As the Committee is aware, an instrument can only be made in the form of a statutory instrument if the enabling Act so provides. However the relevant provision of this Act is section 32 which (unusually) did not come into force on Royal Assent."

The rest follows from that. It is a matter of pointing that out to the Executive and asking it why the order has been made in the form of a statutory instrument when the relevant section of the parent act, section 32 of the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004, was not commenced on royal assent.

When asking the Executive for an explanation of the matter, could we also ask whether its tracking system will pick this kind of thing up? The legal brief advises us that such instances are "not uncommon". It might be something that ought to be included in a checklist. I am not sure whether the Executive's tracking system will simply reflect time sequences, or whether it will include certain checks that must be made. If the latter is the case, then instances such as this should perhaps be included in a list of standard checks.

I would even go a little further than that and ask not just whether, but how the tracking system will ensure that such things do not happen. We would like to know a bit more about how the mechanism works. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

I thank colleagues for attending today. I look forward to seeing you next week.

Meeting closed at 11:03.