Section 24 – Interpretation and effect
180.The powers in Part 1 of the Act provide for the Scottish Ministers to be able to make provision that modifies or relates to retained EU law.
181.This section makes certain interpretative provision and also makes it clear that no provision in this Act may have an effect that is incompatible with EU law, as defined by section 126(9) of the Scotland Act 1998.
182.Subsection (1) provides that a reference in this Act to any EU regulation will be a reference to that regulation as it forms part of domestic law (that is, retained EU law) by virtue of either section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 or section 1 of the Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Act 2020.
183.This section also provides for the Scottish Ministers to be able, by regulations subject to the negative procedure, to specify any other enactment that ‘rolls over’ EU law into domestic law.
184.Subsection (2) provides that any provision of this Act, or any provision made under it, that could be incompatible with EU law can only come into effect after the provision of EU law with which it would be incompatible has ceased to have effect in Scots law by virtue of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
