Commissioner for Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2003

Interpretation, commencement and short title

16 Interpretation

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “action” includes failure to act and related expressions are to be construed accordingly;

• “best practice” means such practice in relation to the rights of children and young people as appears to the Commissioner to be desirable;

• “child friendly version”, in relation to a report, means a version or summary which is specifically designed to take account, so far as practicable, of the age, understanding and usual language of any children or young people by whom it is intended that the report should be read;

• “children and young people” means natural persons in Scotland who are under the age of 18 years or, if they have at any time been in the care of, or looked after by, a local authority or Northern Ireland authority, under the age of 21 years; and related expressions have corresponding meanings;

• “Commissioner” means the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland;

• “equal opportunities” and “equal opportunity requirements” have the same meaning as in Section L2 of Part II of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act;

• “local authority” means any council of a county, city, town, burgh, borough, district, island or other local government area in Scotland, England or Wales;

• “looked after”, in relation to a local authority in Scotland, has the same meaning as in section 17(6) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (c. 36), in relation to a local authority in England and Wales, has the same meaning as in section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) and in relation to a Northern Ireland authority, has the same meaning as in article 25(1) of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (SI 1995/755);

• “Northern Ireland authority” means any authority (including any Health and Social Services Board or trust) in Northern Ireland;

• “Scotland Act” means the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46);

• “Scottish Law Officer” means the Lord Advocate or the Solicitor General for Scotland;

• “service provider” means any person providing services for children and young people but does not include a parent or guardian exercising the responsibilities imposed or the rights conferred by sections 1 and 2 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (c. 36); and

• “terms” includes conditions.

(2) Any reference in this Act to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is to that Convention read subject to any reservations, objections or interpretative declarations by the United Kingdom for the time being in force.

17 Commencement and short title

(1) The provisions of this Act, except for—

(a) sections 1 to 3 and section 16;

(b) schedule 1; and

(c) this section,

come into force at the end of the period of six months beginning with the date of Royal Assent.

(2) This Act may be cited as the Commissioner for Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2003.