Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Retained EU Law: Acts of the Scottish Parliament

Tuesday 16 May 2023 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Ministry of Justice has been working closely with the Scottish Government and other devolved Administrations to consider the implications of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill for retained EU law in justice policy areas across the UK.
  • With regard to this specific Bill, given the announcement last week, I do not believe that there is any infringement on the Scottish competency.
  • I will have to look carefully at the references that the hon. Lady has made, but, as far as I am aware, the items of retained EU law in the Ministry of Justice's remit that are intended to be revoked under the new schedule are all spent measures, and there will be no impact on Scotland.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Kirsten Oswald SNP
Scotland Brexit
Context

Discussions with the Scottish Government on potential effects of provisions in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

Question

Whether he has had recent discussions with the Scottish Government on the potential effect of provisions in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on EU law incorporated in Acts of the Scottish Parliament.

Answer from Mike Freer

The Ministry of Justice has been working closely with the Scottish Government and other devolved Administrations to consider the implications of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill for retained EU law in justice policy areas across the UK. My officials have regular discussions with their devolved Administration counterparts to ensure that proposals to revoke or reform retained EU law are carefully considered to avoid any unintended divergence across the UK.

Partly answered

How: Hedging Language

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Q2 Martin Docherty SNP
Scotland Democracy & Elections
Context

Unison, a trade union, has warned that the Bill may damage democratic legitimacy in devolved nations.

Question

I wonder whether the Minister agrees with Unison the trade union, which has warned that encroaching upon devolved areas to actively make lives worse for working people will damage the democratic legitimacy of the Westminster Parliament in the eyes of people in devolved nations.

Answer from Mike Freer

With regard to this specific Bill, given the announcement last week, I do not believe that there is any infringement on the Scottish competency.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Unison's warning and its impact on democratic legitimacy

How: Hedging Language

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Q3 Kirsten Oswald SNP
Scotland
Context

The Bill restricts Scotland's Lord Advocate's reference powers but does not impose the same restriction on English law officers.

Question

The Bill restricts Scotland's Lord Advocate's reference and intervention powers to devolved Scottish legislation. However, there is no corresponding restriction on English law officers to limit them to reserved matters. Does the Minister feel it is right that English law officers would be able to refer Scottish legislation to the courts in that manner, or does he agree with the Law Society of Scotland that that should be left to Scottish law officers?

Answer from Mike Freer

I will have to look carefully at the references that the hon. Lady has made, but, as far as I am aware, the items of retained EU law in the Ministry of Justice's remit that are intended to be revoked under the new schedule are all spent measures, and there will be no impact on Scotland.

Not addressed: The question about reference powers

How: Changing Subject

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