5.The purpose of the Act is twofold, with both purposes relating to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (“UNCRC”).
6.The first purpose of the Act is to amend the 1980 Act to require that a pupil’s views are considered when parents or carers are exercising their existing right to withdraw the pupil from religious observance, in order to support compliance of the 1980 Act with the UNCRC.
7.The second purpose of the Act is to amend the 2024 Act in order to add an exception to the duty on public authorities under section 6 to act compatibly with the UNCRC requirements, in circumstances where the authority is compelled to act incompatibly in reliance on another Act of the Scottish Parliament. This is intended to remove the potential for public authorities to have to decide whether to act in a way that puts them in breach of the compatibility duty in the 2024 Act or to act in a way that puts them in breach of another statutory duty.
Overview of the Act