Event: Statutory interpretation in public law – recent developments and challenges

Questions regarding statutory interpretation have been central to a number of recent high profile Scots public law cases, with the outcome depending on very different, and sometimes controversial, approaches to the meaning of the corresponding legislation.

At the same time, a number of recent legislative developments are posing new interpretative challenges for both public authorities and courts tasked with applying them.

The panel will provide insight on these recent developments and challenges, considering also the specific contexts of the interpretation of the Scotland Act 1998 and its impact on devolution, and of the incorporation of international human rights instruments into Scots law.

The speakers are:

• Professor Aileen McHarg, Professor in Public Law and Human Rights at the University of Durham
• Scott Wortley, Lecturer in Commercial Law at University of Edinburgh; and
• Paul Harvey, Advocate Depute and advocate at Arnot Manderson

This discussion will be helpful for practitioners, academics, and all those with an interest in how the law is interpreted in action.

The event will be hosted by the Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law, at the University of Edinburgh. Our venue is Lecture Theatre B, George Square. This event is hybrid and will be live streamed.

Our event will begin at 1730 and run til 1900, with a drinks reception to follow.

The seminar is free of charge and will be eligible for one hour of CPD – register here.