Finding Scottish Official Publications

Scottish Official Publications are published by official bodies, such as:

  • The Scottish Parliament
  • Government ministerial departments, directorates, agencies, and public bodies.

Acts of the Scottish Parliament create new law or amend existing law that apply to Scotland only. They originate as Bills. Once a Bill has passed through the various Parliamentary stages and been approved by Parliament it may receive Royal Assent by the Monarch and become an Act of the Scottish Parliament.

Bills

Finding a Bill

Citing Bills

Bills are given a running number as they are published within a particular four-year session of the Parliament with the year of publication in brackets:

  • Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill, SP Bill 36, Session 1 (2001)

Acts (Primary)

Finding an Act of the Scottish Parliament

The first thing to determine is whether you’re looking for the act

  • as enacted (in its original form) the year it received Royal Assent
  • or as is it in force today (or at a certain point in time).

The date of Royal Assent is not necessarily the date that the Act comes into force (becomes law). Acts can come into force in their entirety, or in parts over a period of time. And even after coming into force they can then be amended or repealed by subsequent legislation.

Finding an Act as originally enacted

These are not amended when an Act is changed or repealed and may or may not be in force.

Acts of the Scottish Parliament (ASPs)

Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland (APS)

Finding an Act as it is in force today (or at a certain point in time)

There are a few ways to find whether an Act, or a section of it, has come into force, and when:

  • The Westlaw database includes all Scottish Acts in force.
    • Find your act under the Legislation tab. Westlaw defaults to show the act in its current status. Under More options, Westlaw also allows you to search for different versions of legislation such as law today, historic law, prospective law, and custom date in time.
  • The text of the original Act
    • Acts that do not come into force in their entirety on the date of Royal Assent contain a section dealing with 'commencement' at the end of the sections (before the schedules). This section may specify a date on which the Act, or parts of it, will come into force. The commencement section may alternatively state that all, or part, of the Act will be entered into force by Scottish Statutory Instrument (SSI).
  • Paper reference materials
    • Is it in Force? (Law G1 LAWS) Gives commencement information for act passed from 1960 onwards. It also has a section of Legislation Not Yet in Force.
    • Current Law Service Binder (Law Reports SC344) has a 'Legislation Not Yet in Force' section which covers all Acts passed since 1949 which are not yet in force, either wholly or in part. If your section is listed, then it is not yet in force.
    • Current Law Service Binder (Law Reports SC344) is useful if the act is older. Look in each volume since the Act was published to ensure your information is as current as possible. This information can be updated by using the Citator section in the Current Law Service Binder.
      • Commencement orders (Statutory Instruments bringing part, or all, of an Act into force) are listed under the title of the Act.
      • Acts of the Parliament of Scotland are covered in separate sequences at the beginning of each volume.

Amendments and repeals

Acts, and sections of Acts, can be amended or repealed at any time.

  • The Westlaw database has a symbol to the left of each section/schedule in an Act detailing the status. Open the section to see full details of any changes to an Act.
  • Current Law Statute Citator (Law Reports SC344) notes amendments and repeals under each section number. Look in each volume of the Citator since the Act was published, followed by the Citator section of the binder to ensure current information.
  • Chronological Table of the Statues (Level 7 main floor). If the entry is in italics the whole Act has been repealed. If it is in bold type it is wholly or partly in force, details will be given of any repeals or amendments.

Citing Acts

Each Act is given a running number for the year in which it is passed, known as the ASP number for Acts of the Scottish Parliament. Acts are referred to by their short title and year.

  • The Ethical Standards in Public Life (Scotland) Act 2000 can be cited as either:
    • The Ethical Standards in Public Life (Scotland) Act 2000 (asp 7)
    • 2000 asp 7

Older pre-1707 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland are given a running number for the year in which it is passed, known as the Chapter Number. The [S] represents the Scottish Parliament.

  • The Education Act 1426 can be cited as either:
    • The Education Act 1426 (c. 3 [S])
    • 1426 c. 3 [S]

Citing part of an Act

Each act is divided into sections and these are often further divided into sub-sections. In addition, some acts have schedules at the end, and these may be further divided into paragraphs. For example:

2000 asp 7 s.14  section 14 of asp 7 of 2000 
ss.4, 6  sections 4 and 6 
s.41 (3) section 41 sub-section 3
Sch.2 para 4 schedule 2, paragraph 4

Scottish Statutory Instruments (Secondary)

Scottish Statutory Instruments are secondary legislation. They can provide details of:

  • How an Act will operate
  • include rules, regulations, and orders
  • bring sections of an Act into force and make changes or amendments to an existing Act.

Finding a Scottish Statutory Instrument

The first thing to determine is whether you’re looking for the Scottish Statutory Instrument

  • as enacted (in its original form)
  • or as is it in force today (or at a certain point in time).

As originally enacted

In force today (or at a certain point in time)

  • The Westlaw database includes all Scottish Statutory Instruments in force. Find your SSI under the Legislation tab. The date the secondary legislation came into force can be found to the right.

Citing Scottish Statutory Instruments

The Lerwick Harbour Revision Order 2010 can be cited as either:

  • The Lerwick Harbour Revision Order 2010 (S.S.I. 2010/471)
  • S.S.I. 2010/471

Debates

Government debates allow members of the Scottish Parliament to discuss:

  • Government policy
  • new laws
  • amendment of current laws
  • statements
  • issues of the day
  • votes
  • questions put by members before the Scottish Parliament.

In reaching an informed decision, members debate all aspects of an issue or policy, often culminating in a vote. The debates are recorded as a substantially verbatim transcript, edited to remove extraneous information such as repetition and obvious mistakes.

Finding Scottish Parliamentary Debates: Official Reports

Reports of the debates in the Scottish Parliament are known as the Official Reports (or Chamber Official Reports). They can be found at the following locations:

Citing Scottish Parliamentary Debates

The substantially verbatim report of Scottish Parliamentary proceedings at meetings of the Parliament and its Committees. The Official Report is issued in three parts:

Meetings of the Parliament

Individual issues of the Official Report Meetings of the Parliament (or Chamber Official Reports) appear for each day the Parliament is sitting. They can be found at the following locations:

Citation:

SP OR = Scottish Parliament Official Report

SP OR 17 May 2001, col. 769

If using the online Official Report, the column number is available from the PDF version (see link at the top of the page).

Written Answers Report

The written answers report contains the text of written questions lodged by MSPs and the answers given by either the Scottish Government or the Presiding Officer. They can be found at the following locations:

  • 1999-2011 on level 7 on the main section of the floor. Ask level 7 staff for details.
  • 1999 - present Scottish Parliament

Citation:

SP WA = Scottish Parliament Written Answers

SP WA 10 May 2001, p. 151

Official Report Committee Sessions

Report of the proceedings of meetings for each of Parliament’s individual Committees. They can be found at the following locations:

Citation:

SP OR RD = Scottish Parliament Official Report Rural Development Committee

SP OR RD 18 May 2001, col. 1997

If using the online Official Report, the column number is available from the PDF version (see link at the top of the page).

Scottish Government Papers

The variety of material issued as Scottish Government (SG) papers is wide-ranging and includes: Government policy documents and consultation papers, annual reports of Government Agencies and Commissions, Scottish Law Commission documents, and key statistical publications.

SG Papers were previously known as Scottish Executive (SE) Papers. 

  • 1999-2011 on level 7 on the main section of the floor. Ask level 7 staff for details.
  • 1999-present online: Scottish Government papers are available from a range of online resources. Please ask for level 7 staff for details.
  • Recent Scottish Government papers
  • Archive 1999-2019 Scottish Government papers

Citation:

SG Papers are given a running number as they are published with a calendar year, for example,

               SG 2003/12

Scottish Parliament Papers

Scottish Parliament (SP) papers

The vast majority of Scottish Parliament (SP) papers are reports of individual Committee inquiries.

Citation:

SP Papers are given a running number as they are published within a particular four-year session of the Parliament with the year of publication in brackets.

               SP Paper 15, Session 2 (2003)

Contact us

If you require any help with locating Official Publications, please contact the Maps, Official Publications and Statistics Unit.