General
Section 12 - Commencement
54.Section 12 deals with the commencement of the Act provisions. Sections 11 (ancillary provision), 12 (commencement) and 13 (short title) come into force on the day after Royal Assent. The other provisions come into force on a day appointed by the Scottish Ministers by regulations. The Scottish Ministers may make regulations appointing different commencement dates for different purposes. They may bring provisions into force on different dates for different courts or different descriptions of courts. They could, for example, bring section 1, which introduces the new rule for child witnesses in serious cases, into force for the High Court earlier than for the sheriff court, and for some sheriff courts earlier than others. They may bring provisions into force on different dates for witnesses of different types or of different ages. They could, for example, bring section 1 into force earlier for children under the age of 12 than for children aged 12 or over.
