View source for Scotland Act 1998

{{Short description|United Kingdom legislation}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=June 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2025}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
|short_title= Scotland Act 1998
|type=Act
|parliament=Parliament of the United Kingdom 
|long_title=An Act to provide for the establishment of a Scottish Parliament and Administration and other changes in the government of Scotland; to provide for changes in the constitution and functions of certain public authorities; to provide for the variation of the basic rate of income tax in relation to income of Scottish taxpayers in accordance with a resolution of the Scottish Parliament; to amend the law about parliamentary constituencies in Scotland; and for connected purposes.
|statute_book_chapter=1998 c. 46
|introduced_by= [[Donald Dewar]], [[Secretary of State for Scotland]]
|territorial_extent=United Kingdom<br />except section 25 (witnesses and documents:offences) which extends only to Scotland
|year=1998
|royal_assent=19 November 1998
|commencement=Various dates from 19 November 1998 to 1 April 2000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/ukpga_19980046_en_10#pt6-pb4-l1g130|title=Scotland Act 1998|first=United Kingdom|last=Parliament|website=www.opsi.gov.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1998/19983178.htm|title=Scotland Act 1998 (Commencement) Order 1998}}</ref>
|amendments={{plainlist|
*[[Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004]]
*[[Constitutional Reform Act 2005]]
*[[Scotland Act 2012]]
*[[Wales Act 2014]]
*[[Scotland Act 2016]]
*[[European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018]]}}
|amends=[[Act of Settlement 1701]], [[United Nations Act 1946]]
|related_legislation= [[Referendums (Scotland & Wales) Act 1997]]
|status= Amended
|original_text=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/46/enacted
|revised_text=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/46?timeline=false&view=extent
|}}
{{United Kingdom constitutional formation}}
{{Politics of Scotland}}
The '''Scotland Act 1998''' (c. 46) is an [[Act of parliament|Act]] of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] which legislated for the establishment of the [[Devolution|devolved]] [[Scottish Parliament]] with tax varying powers and the [[Scottish Government]] (then Scottish Executive). It was one of the most significant constitutional pieces of legislation to be passed by the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|UK Parliament]] between the passing of the [[European Communities Act 1972 (UK)|European Communities Act]] in 1972 and the [[European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018|European Union (Withdrawal) Act]] in 2018 and is the most significant piece of legislation to affect [[Scotland]] since the [[Acts of Union 1707|Acts of Union in 1707]] which ratified the [[Treaty of Union]] and led to the disbandment of the [[Parliament of Scotland]].

==Content and history==
The Act was introduced by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government in 1998 to give effect to the [[1997 Scottish devolution referendum|Scottish devolution referendum in 1997]] which showed that Scotland was in favour of both of the set questions, firstly for the creation of a [[parliament]] for [[Scotland]] and secondly, that this parliament should have tax varying powers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12283597.There_shall_be_a_Scottish_Parliament_Consensus/ |title=There shall be a Scottish Parliament Consensus |first1=Murray |last1=Ritchie |first2=Robbie |last2=Dinwoodie |work=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]] |date=19 December 1997 |access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref>   The Act creates the [[Scottish Parliament]], sets out how [[Member of the Scottish Parliament|Members of the Scottish Parliament]] are to be elected,<ref>Sections 1 to 18.</ref> makes some provision about the internal operation of the Parliament<ref>Sections 19 to 27, 39 to 43.</ref> (although many issues are left for the Parliament itself to regulate) and sets out the process for the Parliament to consider and pass Bills which become [[Act of the Scottish Parliament|Acts of the Scottish Parliament]] once they receive [[royal assent]].<ref>Sections 28 to 36.</ref> The Act specifically declares the continued power of the UK Parliament to legislate in respect of Scotland;<ref>Section 28(7).</ref> thereby upholding the concept of Westminster's absolute [[parliamentary sovereignty]].

The Act also provides for the creation of a 'Scottish Executive'<ref>Section 44.</ref> though one of the early actions of the [[First Salmond government|SNP administration]] that won power in the [[2007 Scottish Parliament election|2007 elections]] was to rebrand the Scottish Executive, as the group of Ministers and their civil servants had been known, as the [[Scottish Government]]. Despite the re-branding, the 'Scottish Executive' still uses the original description for a number of purposes (s.44 of the Scotland Act defines the nature of the body but does not use the words "shall be known as" with regard to a name as is the case with various other bodies whose names are thus fixed by statute). It consists of a [[First Minister of Scotland|First Minister]] and other Ministers appointed by the Monarch with the approval of the Parliament, including the [[Lord Advocate]] and the [[Solicitor General for Scotland]].

The Act sets out the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. Rather than listing the matters over which the Scottish Parliament does control (devolved powers), it specifies the matters over which it does not (reserved matters).<ref>Schedule 5.</ref> It further designates a list of statutes which are not amenable to amendment or repeal by the Parliament<ref>Schedule 4</ref> which includes the [[Human Rights Act 1998]] and many provisions of the Scotland Act itself. Even when acting within its legislative competence, the Act further constrains the powers of the Parliament by inhibiting it from acting in a manner incompatible with the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] or [[European Economic Community|European Community]] law.<ref>Section 29(2)(d).</ref> The same constraints apply to acts of the Scottish Executive.<ref>Section 57(2).</ref>

The Act grants the [[Secretary of State for Scotland]] power to direct the [[Scottish Government]] not to take any action which he has reasonable grounds to believe "would be incompatible with any international obligations" or to act where he believes such action "is required for the purpose of giving effect to any such obligations".<ref>Section 58 [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/46/section/58].</ref>

The Act also sets up mechanisms to resolve disputes over questions about legislative competence of the Parliament and powers of the Executive. The ultimate appeal in such matters lies to the [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]] (prior to 1 October 2009, the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]]).<ref>Sections 32, 33, 103, and Schedule 6; and [[Constitutional Reform Act 2005]], section 40 and Schedule 9</ref> The Westminster government can unilaterally prohibit an Act of the Scottish Parliament&nbsp;— even if legislatively competent — from receiving royal assent if it believes the law would affect matters of reserved law; this provision has been only used once, to veto the [[Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill]] in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-17 |title=Scotland gender recognition bill: what is a section 35 order? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/17/scotland-gender-recognition-bill-what-is-a-section-35-order |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

The Act also allows the powers of the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive to be adjusted over time by agreement between both parliaments by means of an [[Order in Council]].<ref>Sections 30 and 63.</ref>

The Act was passed on 17 November 1998,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199798/ldhansrd/vo981117/text/81117-20.htm#81117-20_head0|title=Lords Hansard text for 17 Nov 1998 (181117-20)|website=publications.parliament.uk}}</ref> and received [[royal assent]] two days later on 19 November.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmhansrd/vo981119/debtext/81119-05.htm#81119-05_head1|title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 19 Nov 1998 (pt 5)|website=publications.parliament.uk}}</ref>  The first elections were held in May 1999 and the Scottish Parliament and Executive assumed their full powers on 1 July 1999.

==Amendments to the Act==
The Act was amended by the [[Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004]] to end the link between the number of MPs at Westminster and the number of constituency MSPs. It was amended again in 2016 as a reaction to the 2014 Scottish Independence vote.

The Wales Act 2014 made amendments to Part 4A of the Scotland Act around the definition of a Scottish taxpayer, to ensure that an individual could not be a taxpayer in both Scotland and Wales in the same year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cipp.org.uk/news-publications/news/thewalesact2014.html |title=Devolution of income tax in Wales |publisher=Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals |date=23 January 2015 |access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref>

The Act has been amended by:
*[[Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004]]
*[[Constitutional Reform Act 2005]] 
*[[Scotland Act 2012]]
*[[Wales Act 2014]]
*[[Scotland Act 2016]]
*[[European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018]]

==See also==
*[[2014 Scottish independence referendum]] – Scottish referendum bill 2010
*[[Government of Wales Act 1998]]
*[[Northern Ireland Act 1998]]
*[[Royal Commission on the Constitution (United Kingdom)]]

==References==
*C M G Himsworth. "Scotland Act 1998". Current Law Statutes 1998. Sweet & Maxwell. London. W Green. Edinburgh. 1999. vol 3. pp [https://archive.org/details/isbn_0421678100_3/page/n292/mode/1up 46-1] to 46-217.
*Noreen Burrows, "Unfinished Business: The Scotland Act 1998" (1999) 62 The Modern Law Review 241 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1097025 JSTOR]
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*  Walker,  Graham. "Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Devolution, 1945–1979," ''Journal of British Studies'' Jan. 2010, Vol. 49, No. 1: 117–142.

==External links==
*{{wikisource-inline|single=true}}
*{{Wikiversity inline}}
*[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/browse/scotland browse legislation] that exclusively or primarily applies to Scotland on legislation.gov.uk
*[http://www.parliament.scot Scottish Parliament site]
*[http://www.gov.scot Scottish Government site]
{{Scottish devolution}}

[[Category:Scottish devolution]]
[[Category:United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1998]]
[[Category:Constitutional laws of Scotland]]
[[Category:Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Scotland]]
[[Category:1998 in Scotland]]
[[Category:November 1998 in the United Kingdom]]