13 March 2014
120.The Act amends certain provisions of subordinate legislation. Section 26 provides that those amendments are to be treated as having been made under the relevant power to make subordinate legislation. This is to ensure that any such provisions can be amended again by subordinate legislation in future.
121.Section 27 makes provision about extent. The main impact of the Act’s provisions is on Northern Ireland. However, because many of the enactments upon which the Act operates extend to the whole of the UK, as a technical matter much of the Act extends to the whole of the UK. The exceptions are provisions modifying enactments with a different extent. Those provisions have the same extent as the enactments being modified.
122.Section 28 provides for the commencement of the sections in the Act. Subsection (1) sets out the sections that will be commenced on Royal Assent. Subsection (4) sets out the sections that will be commenced two months after Royal Assent. Subsections (2), (3) and (5) are technical and deal with complications arising from the fact that the Act amends certain provisions of existing legislation which are subject to amendments which are not yet in force. Subsection (6) provides for commencement of sections 3, 4 and 5 on the first day after the Act is passed on which the Northern Ireland Assembly is dissolved. Subsections (7) and (8) provide for the remaining provisions to be commenced by order of the Secretary of State.