Part 7: Final Provisions
Section 42: Interpretation
148.Section 42 defines certain words and expressions used in the Act.
Section 43: No modification of the Human Rights Act 1998
149.Section 43 states that nothing in the Act modifies the Human Rights Act 1998.
Section 44: Rules of court
150.Section 44 makes provision about rules of court. It provides first of all that any existing power to make rules of court can be used to make provision for the purposes of the Act. It also provides that where the Act requires the giving of intimation or notice that is to be done as rules of court require.
Section 45: Regulations
151.Where a provision in the Act enables the Scottish Ministers to make regulations, section 45 sets out that this includes the power to make incidental, supplementary, consequential, transitional or saving provision, and different provision for different purposes. However this does not apply to commencement regulations under section 47, where provision is made in section 47(4) instead.
Section 46: Ancillary provision
152.Section 46 enables the Scottish Ministers to make ancillary provision, by regulations, to give full effect to the Act or any provision made under it. It includes the power to modify other enactments (including the Act itself).
153.Regulations under section 46 that amend the text of an Act are subject to parliamentary scrutiny under the affirmative procedure (as defined by section 29 of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010). Otherwise, they are subject to the negative procedure (as defined by section 28 of that Act).
Section 47: Commencement
154.Section 47 deals with when the Act’s provisions come into effect as a matter of law.
155.Sections 42, 45, 46, 47 and 48 came into effect automatically the day after the day that the Bill for the Act received Royal Assent (so on 17 January 2024). The process by which a Bill becomes an Act of the Scottish Parliament is set out in section 28 of the Scotland Act 1998.
156.The rest of the Act’s provisions take effect 6 months after Royal Assent – so on 16 July 2024 (unless brought into force earlier by regulations made by the Scottish Ministers under section 47(2)(b)).
Section 48: Short title
157.Section 48 states that the Act’s short title is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024.
