Rule 44 Devolution jurisdiction and compatibility issues and questions

(1)

Appeals or references under the Court’s devolution jurisdiction and its jurisdiction to determine compatibility issues and questions shall in general be dealt with in accordance with these Rules but the Court shall give special directions as and when necessary (including as to any intimations required by any enactment), and in particular as to—

(a)

any question referred under sections 32A or 33 of the Scotland Act 1998^f1, section 11 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998^f2 or sections 111B or 112 of the Government of Wales Act 2006^f3;

(b)

any reference of—

(i)

a devolution issue, within the meaning of the Scotland Act 1998, the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and the Government of Wales Act 2006;

(ii)

a compatibility issue within the meaning of section 288ZA(2) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995^f4 (as to compatibility with the Human Rights Act 1998);

(iii)

a UNCRC compatibility issue within the meaning of section 288AB(1) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995^f5 (as to compatibility with the UNCRC Incorporation Act);

(iv)

a compatibility question within the meaning of section 31 of the UNCRC Incorporation Act;

(c)

any direct references under paragraph 33 or 34 of Schedule 6 to the Scotland Act 1998, paragraph 33 or 34 of Schedule 10 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 or paragraph 29 or 30 of Schedule 9 to the Government of Wales Act 2006.

(2)

A reference made by the law officer in accordance with the provisions referred to in paragraph (1) is made by sending the reference and by serving—

(a)

any other law officer who is not already a party and who has a potential interest in the proceedings; and

(b)

any other party who is required to be served according to the enactment under which the reference is made.

(3)

A reference must state the question or issue to be decided by the Court.

(4)

The Registrar must give notice of the question or issue—

(a)

to any appropriate law officer;

(b)

where the proceedings relate to a compatibility question within the meaning of section 31 of the UNCRC Incorporation Act, to the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland and the Scottish Commission for Human Rights,

where that person is not already a party to any proceedings.

(5)

In this rule, the “UNCRC Incorporation Act” means the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024^f6.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: 1998 c. 46. Section 32A was inserted by the Scotland Act 2016 (c. 11), sections 11(10), 72(4)(a).
f2: 1998 c. 47.
f3: 2006 c. 32. Section 111B was inserted by the Wales Act 2017 (c. 4), sections 9, 71(2)(c) and Schedule 7 paragraphs 1, 6.
f4: 1995 c. 46. Section 288ZA was inserted by the Scotland Act 2012 (c. 11), sections 34(3), 44(5).
f5: Section 288AB was inserted by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 (asp 1), section 32(3).
f6: 2024 asp 1.