(642) SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT LEGISLATION SECOND SESSION
SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT LEGISLATION SECOND SESSION
The Scottish Parliament concluded its second session on 29 March 2007. 81 Bills were considered altogether in the session, of which 15 fell or were withdrawn. Of the Bills previously mentioned in Scots Law News, the Christmas Day and New Year’s Day Trading (Scotland) Bill passed, including the provision that large stores are henceforth not to open on Christmas Day; with regard to New Year’s Day, however, Scottish Ministers are merely empowered to apply the same rule by statutory instrument but only after extensive consultation and laying before the Parliament a report about the economic impact, and the impact on family life, of large shops opening for the purpose of making retail sales on New Year’s Day. Alas, the Scottish Register of Tartans Bill (for which see No 608) did not complete its Parliamentary passage and was withdrawn.
Amongst other notable Bills passing into law were the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Bill (new arrangements for vetting those allowed to work with children), the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Bill (inter alia, significant amendments to the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000), the Rights of Relatives to Damages (Mesothelioma) (Scotland) Bill (allowing relatives of a deceased to claim solatium in respect of his death from cancers caused by exposure to asbestos in the course of employment even if the deceased made a successful claim in his lifetime – see previously Nos 555, 575, 579 and 585), the Crofting Reform etc Bill (aiming to simplify crofting legislation and the administration of crofting, allow new crofts to be created and crofters to undertake a wider range of activities on their crofts, and modernise crofting legislation to take account of changes such as the increasing interest in renewable energy development [i.e. wind farms] in crofting areas – see previously No 449) and the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Bill (changing the law on summary criminal procedure and bail – see No 503).