UK government refers Holyrood bills to Supreme Court

UK government refers Holyrood bills to Supreme Court

The UK government has referred bills passed at Holyrood to the Supreme Court on the basis they are ultra vires of the Scotland Act.

MSPs unanimously passed bills on local government and children’s rights last month but UK ministers suggest they are beyond the scope of the Scottish Parliament’s powers insofar as they impose obligations on the UK government.

The bills copy into domestic law the European Charter of Local Self-Government and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the challenge was “jaw dropping”.

She added in a tweet: “The UK Tory government is going to court to challenge a law passed by the Scottish Parliament unanimously.

“And for what? To protect their ability to legislate/act in ways that breach children’s rights in Scotland.

“Politically catastrophic, but also morally repugnant.”

Professor Adam Tomkins pointed out, however, that the referral is based on the competency of the bills rather than their content.

He tweeted: “The cases are about the legal competence, not the policy merits, of the two [bills]. If the U.K. Govt have doubts about the legal competence of the [bills] they are absolutely right to refer those doubts to the Supreme Court for a ruling.”

Section 33 of the Scotland Act provides for referring a bill to the Supreme Court.

A UK government source said: “This delay to the legislation could easily have been avoided. Sadly, it appears the Scottish government are more interested in stirring a constitutional row than getting the UNCRC bill into law at the first opportunity.”

A UK government spokesman said: “The UK government law officers’ concerns are not about the substance of the legislation, rather whether parts are outwith the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.”

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