352.Section 116 sets out when the provisions of the Act will come into effect as a matter of law. It provides that the sections on regulations, ancillary provision, interpretation and the short title, as well as the commencement section itself, will automatically take effect on the day after the Act receives Royal Assent. All other sections of the Act will take effect in accordance with regulations made by the Scottish Ministers. Those regulations will require to be laid before the Scottish Parliament but, by virtue of section 112(5), they will not otherwise be subject to any parliamentary procedure.(14)
353.In addition, this section provides that commencement regulations may include transitional, transitory or saving provision and may make different provision for different purposes. This means that the Scottish Ministers may bring different provisions into force on different days or bring a provision into force for one purpose on one day and for remaining purposes on a later day. In particular, they may bring a provision into force on different days for different courts or descriptions of court. For example, the Scottish Ministers could bring section 106 (applications to admit certain evidence relating to sexual offences: rights of complainers) into force for the High Court earlier than for the sheriff court. Alternatively, they may bring a provision into force on different days for different proceedings or types of proceedings. For example, the Scottish Ministers could bring the Part 7 provisions (Sexual Offences Court) into force for proceedings relating to certain types of offence earlier than for proceedings relating to other types of offence. Or they may bring a provision into force on different days for different descriptions of witness. For example, the Scottish Ministers could bring section 93 (vulnerable witness ground rules hearings in the Sexual Offences Court) into force for complainers earlier than for other vulnerable witnesses.
354.Finally, commencement regulations may make different provision for different areas. So, for example, the Scottish Ministers could bring section 106 into force on different days for different parts of Scotland.
Crown Application Part 13 – Final Provisions Section 116 – commencement