About petitions
Petitions are a way to ask the Parliament to do something. You can submit a petition to the Parliament or sign a petition to show support.
Who can petition the Parliament
Petitions are a way to ask the Parliament to do something. Any person or organisation can submit a petition: you do not have to be a certain age or live in Scotland. MSPs cannot submit a petition but they can support them.
There are rules about what you can petition the Parliament about, and what information you have to give for your petition to be looked at by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee.
Watch this video to find out how petitions work in the Scottish Parliament
What can I petition the Parliament about
Petitions to the Parliament must be about something that is:
- “devolved” (in the Scottish Parliament’s powers)
- relevant to the whole country
Petitions cannot ask the Scottish Parliament to get involved in a:
- local or individual matter
- decision that should be taken by another organisation
For example, a petition cannot ask the Scottish Parliament to get involved in a planning decision made by a council. It could ask for changes to Scottish planning legislation or guidance.
Rules for petitions
The rules for petitions are in:
- the Standing Orders of the Scottish Parliament (the rules for how the Parliament works)
- a “determination” (rules) agreed by the Public Petitions Committee
How to petition
All petitions should be made using our online petitions system. If you cannot use the system please get in touch with the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions team.
Signing a petition
You can sign a petition to show you support it. You can find the petition on our online system and sign it there. Petitions will show as “collecting signatures” if you can sign them.
Petitions do not have to collect signatures to be looked at by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee. They will be looked at by the committee whether they collect signatures or not.
When a petition is published, people can show their support by adding their signature to the petition. All petitions remain open to collect signatures while they are under consideration by the Parliament. There is no requirement for petitions to reach a certain number of signatures before it will be looked at by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee.
The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
After your petition is published it will be looked at by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee. Before the committee looks at the petition it will gather information to help its consideration.
We will always let you know 2 weeks before the committee considers your petition.
How long does the Parliament look at a petition
The petitions process is not designed to respond to emergencies. Petitions can be looked at over several meetings. Committees will not close a petition until they have all the information they need.
If your petition is asking for urgent or emergency action you may want to contact 1 of your 8 MSPs or the Scottish Government.
Once a petition has been submitted it will be looked at by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee. The committee may look at it once, or several times.
The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee can also “refer” (send) the petition to another committee.