§ Mr. Ian Stewartasked the Secretary of State for Scotland which of the Articles of Union between Scotland and England are regarded by the Government as no longer binding; and why.
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The Lord AdvocateI have been asked to reply.
The following table gives the hon. Member the information asked for.
Articles still in full force Articles partly in force Articles repealed I VI V II VII VIII III XVI IX IV XIX XXV XVIII XXIII XVII XX — XXII XXI — — XXIV — — XXV — — To get the overall picture it would be necessary to look at the Revised Statutes as annotated and the Second Revision of the Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in 1966.
As regards the second part of the Question, the principal reason for the repeal of ancillary provisions in the Articles of Union is that in the course of time the provisions became obsolete and were superseded by innovating legislation. For example, Article VII (excise) was re-pleaded by statute law revision in view of successive changes in excise law. In other cases later legislation expressly repealed various Articles in whole or in part, e.g. Article XVII (weights and measures) was 488W overtaken by the Weights and Measures Act 1878, and Article XXIII (the 16 Peers of Scotland) was repealed in part by the Criminal Justice Act 1948 and the Peerage Act 1963.
Articles I to IV containing the general principles of the Union have not been affected by subsequent legislation.