INTERPRETATION (Hansard, 19 May 1998)

§ Mr. McLeish
I beg to move amendment No. 264, in page 50, line 29, at end insert— `( ) the general principles of private law (including private international law)'.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this, it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: Government amendment No. 209.
No. 118, in page 50, line 33, leave out 'of restitution' and insert 'arising from unjustified enrichment'.
No. 119, in page 50, line 35, leave out 'and'.
Government amendments Nos. 210, 211 and 265.
No. 120, in page 50, line 38, at end insert `and— (e) Scottish Private International Law (Jurisdiction and Choice of Law).'. Government amendment No. 266.

§ Mr. McLeish
During consideration in Committee of amendments that the hon. and learned Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Wallace) tabled to clause. 111(3), I said that I would consider further some of the issues raised by 826 his amendments. Government amendments Nos. 209 to 211 and 264 to 266 are the result of detailed consideration of our further discussion.
Amendment No. 264 adds the general principles of private law, including international private law, to the list of areas of the civil law of Scotland that come within the ambit of Scots private law.
Amendment No. 209 amends the reference to the area of the law of obligations, to avoid the overlap between voluntary and conventional obligations and obligations of restitution.
Amendment No. 210 amends the reference to the area of the law of action, and ensures that the Scottish Parliament will have legislative competence to alter the jurisdiction of the courts in this area.
Amendment No. 211 further amends the reference to the area of the law of action to reflect the fact that prescription more properly belongs to the law of obligations.
Amendment No. 265 provides that, for the purposes of the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, references to Scots private law include administrative law. This is intended to make it clear that the Scottish Parliament will be able to legislate about judicial review and matters of that kind.
Amendment No. 266 ensures that the power to alter the jurisdiction of the courts in respect of Scots criminal law is within the competence of the Scottish Parliament.
In the drafting of these amendments, full consideration has been given to the points raised by the Law Society for Scotland and by Lord Gill, the chairman of the Scottish Law Commission, and the commission has said that it welcomes the proposals. I therefore commend the amendments to the House.

§ Mr. Wallace
I thank the Minister for having taken note of the points made in Committee. I believe that the amendments that the Government have tabled more than cover the points made in the amendments tabled by myself and my hon. and learned and hon. Friends. I welcome the fact that the Government listened and acted.

§ Mr. McLeish
I thank the hon. and learned Gentleman for his comments. Amendments Nos. 118 and 212 relate to issues similar to those dealt with by the Government amendments. In light of what I have said, the hon. and learned Gentleman has just given an indication that these will not be pressed. I thank him for the constructive contributions that have been made to this part of the debate.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments made: No. 209, in page 50, line 32, leave out from 'including' to end of line 33 and insert `obligations arising from contract, unilateral promise, delict, unjustified enrichment and negotiorum gestio'. No. 210, in page 50, line 36, after 'including' insert `jurisdiction,'.
No. 211, in page 50, line 37, leave out 'prescription and limitation' and insert 'limitation of actions'.
No. 265, in page 50, line 38, at end insert— `and in section 28 include references to administrative law'. No. 266, in page 50, line 39, at end insert 'jurisdiction'.
827 No. 213, in page 50, line 42, leave out from `Administration' to end of line 44 and insert `are to the office—holders in the Scottish Administration and the members of the staff of the Scottish Administration. (5A) For the purposes of this Act—

(a) references to office—holders in the Scottish Administration are to—

(i) members of the Scottish Executive and junior Scottish Ministers, and

(ii) the holders of offices in the Scottish Administration which are not ministerial offices, and

(b) references to members of the staff of the Scottish Administration are to the staff of the persons referred to in paragraph (a).

(5B) For the purposes of this Act, the offices in the Scottish Administration which are not ministerial offices are—

(a) the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages for Scotland, the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland and the Keeper of the Records of Scotland, and

(b) any other office the holder of which exercises functions conferred by an enactment and the power of appointment to which is exercisable by a member of the Scottish Executive.

(5C) Her Majesty may by Order in Council make any modifications of subsections (5) to (5B) which She considers necessary or expedient'.—[Mr. McLeish.]