International Organisations (Immunities and Privileges) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024 (SSI 2024/Draft)
The next item of business is consideration of oral evidence on an affirmative instrument.
We are joined by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, Angela Constance. From the Scottish Government, I welcome Susan Black, who is a senior policy officer in the civil law and legal system division, and Emma Thomson, who is a solicitor in the legal directorate.
I refer members to paper 2. I intend to allow up to 10 minutes for the evidence session. I invite the cabinet secretary to make an opening statement.
09:45
Thank you, convener. I apologise in advance for any repetition. The draft International Organisations (Immunities and Privileges) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024 is an order in council made by His Majesty under powers in the International Organisations Act 1968. The nature of the reserved-devolved divide means that, where privileges and immunities relate to devolved matters in Scotland, the function of advising His Majesty on the relevant order is devolved.
The purpose of the instrument is to give effect to the obligations relating to immunities and privileges for those matters that are within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament for two international organisations. The first is the European Space Agency. The agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union’s space agency concerning the agency’s sites and facilities in the UK was signed in 2013. It provides for the establishment and operation of an agency centre at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire. The purpose of the order is to amend the International Organisations (Immunities and Privileges) (Scotland) Order 2009 to give full effect to the obligations relating to immunities and privileges under the agreement. The head of the Harwell campus and seven high-ranking officials who had previously not been protected by privileges and immunities are now covered, to the extent that is provided for under the agreement.
The second organisation that the order relates to is the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere. The order retains schedule 15 of the 2009 order to reflect the provisions that are contained within the protocol for the privileges and immunities of the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere.
The privileges and immunities for the two organisations that I have mentioned are granted primarily on the basis of strict functional need. Importantly, the order contains an exemption to immunity in respect of road traffic accidents. The privileges and immunities are no greater than the extent of what is required to enable the two organisations and specified individuals who are connected with the organisations to function effectively.
Scotland’s space industry and the work of Space Scotland is supported by a number of public sector bodies and agencies, including the European Space Agency. As the committee will be aware, the space industry makes an important contribution to Scotland’s future economic growth. It contributes in excess of £4 billion to the Scottish economy. The European Space Agency is an important partner, providing support for research and significant funding. Orbex and Skyrora, companies that are based in Scotland, successfully secured a total of £8.5 million from the agency to develop world-leading small satellite technologies.
The order will ensure that we meet our international obligations, and it will help to support the future development of Scotland’s space industry. A parallel order has been taken forward by the UK Government and is in force for the rest of the UK and for non-devolved Scots law. As a good global citizen, it is the responsibility of the Scottish Government to bring the order to the Parliament for consideration. I commend it to the committee.
Thank you, cabinet secretary. I invite questions from members.
I will raise a small point. The meeting papers say that there has been some defective drafting of the order, which should be fixed. The papers say that the Scottish Government “intends to rectify” that at the “earliest opportunity”.
Not so long ago—in fact, in March—the committee considered a Scottish statutory instrument that had the wrong date on it due to another Scottish Government error. The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee said that that date should have been corrected. That might or might not have been done—I do not expect you to know the answer to that, cabinet secretary, but I assume that it has been. I do not mean to sound too critical, but it is quite something that we have had two fairly fundamental mistakes in papers that have come to the committee about orders and SSIs. What are your views on that?
I appreciate Mr Findlay’s irritation about the matter. The processes for the preparation of the orders are layered on layers of historical agreements and historical orders. The two errors that you have mentioned are either being addressed or they will be. My understanding is that the error related to this order is rooted in the original UK orders. Nonetheless, the errors will be addressed.
It is particularly complex that the order relates to the transfer of agreements over a period of a number of years into multiple orders that flow from the UK Government. However, I said that by way of context—I certainly ain’t pointing the finger at anyone in that regard.
Does that refer to the error in this order?
Yes.
As there are no further questions, we move to consideration of the instrument. I am sure that I do not need to remind officials that only MSPs may speak in a debate on the motion. I invite the cabinet secretary to move motion S6M-12734.
Motion moved,
That the Criminal Justice Committee recommends that the International Organisations (Immunities and Privileges) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024 [draft] be approved.—[Angela Constance]
Motion agreed to.
Do members agree to delegate responsibility to me and the clerks to approve a short factual report to the Parliament on this affirmative SSI?
Members indicated agreement.
I thank the cabinet secretary for joining us. I briefly suspend the meeting to allow for a change of witnesses.
09:51 Meeting suspended.