Section 32 — Functions exercisable within devolved competence
This version in force from 2016-09-05
Snapshot: 2026-08-24
Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Amendments made after 2026-08-24 may not be reflected — always check the official text .
(1) The Scotland Act 1998 (“the 1998 Act”) has effect, in relation to any function so far as exercisable within devolved competence by virtue of a provision of section 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 or 31, as if references to a “pre-commencement enactment” were to—
(a) an Act passed before or in the same session as the relevant date,
(b) any other enactment made before the relevant date,
(c) subordinate legislation under section 106 of the 1998 Act, to the extent that the legislation states that it is to be treated as a pre-commencement enactment,
but did not include the 1998 Act or this Act (or any amendment made by either of those Acts) or, subject to paragraph (c), an enactment comprised in subordinate legislation under either of those Acts.
(2) In this section—
(a) expressions used in the 1998 Act have the same meaning as in that Act;
(b) in relation to a provision of section 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 or 31, the relevant date for any purpose is the date on which the provision comes into force for that purpose.
(3) In section 53 of the 1998 Act (general transfer of functions), after subsection (3) insert— (3A) But see sections 9, 32 and 51 of the Scotland Act 2016 (which give “pre-commencement enactment” a different meaning for functions exercisable within devolved competence by virtue of certain provisions of that Act).