Supreme Court ruling on Continuity Bill

The Scottish Parliament passed the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill, which included elements such as retaining the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in Scotland and keeping pace with the EU.  Due to disagreement as to whether the Bill was within the competence of the Scottish Parliament, it was referred to the Supreme Court for a ruling.

The Court’s ruling is that whilst the Act was competent (except for one section) when it was passed, due to changes in the EU Withdrawal Act at Westminster in the meantime, most of the Continuity Bill is no longer within the competence of the Scottish Parliament.

In particular this includes the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights – however, the Lord Advocate stated that the Scottish Government will now consider alternative ways to give effect to the provisions contained in the Charter.

 

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Image credit: Beth Cortez-Neaval, Flickr