Resumen de At the Intersection of Scottish Agricultural History and Constitutional Law:: Salvesen v. Riddell and the Legislative Competence of the Scottish Parliament
Interpretation of legislation implementing acutely political government policies presents challenges for courts in a variety of ways. Those challenges are heightened when the measure is one originating from the devolved legislatures of the UK nations where courts have the power to declare that such acts are ‘not law’ where they exceed the defined legislative competence of the devolved legislature, including Convention grounds. This article explores the decisions of both the Inner House of the Court of Session and the UK Supreme Court in Salvesen v. Riddell, the first civil case in which legislation has been held to be outwith the Scottish Parliament’s legislative competence. The case is noteworthy for differing routes to the same result and the range of tools for construction which were deployed, including contrasting views on the relevancy of parliamentary statements. In addition to consideration of the interpretative approaches, this article also considers the approach of the UK Supreme Court to the fashioning of remedies in a situation where the legislation struck down had effects on existing and long-vested rights.
