Subsection (1) requires the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland to record in the Register of the Great Seal all Letters Patent signed by Her Majesty signifying Royal Assent to Bills passed by the Parliament and all royal proclamations providing for the dissolution of the Parliament and the holding of elections which have passed under the Scottish Seal.
Subsection (2) requires the Keeper to intimate to the Clerk of the Scottish Parliament the date of the recording of Letters Patent. Section 28(3) provides that the date of recording in the Register is the date of Royal Assent and section 28(4) requires the Clerk to endorse this date on the Act of the Scottish Parliament in question.
Subsection (3) provides for more detailed provision as to the preparation and publication of such Letters Patent and proclamations to be set out in an Order in Council. The Scottish Parliament (Letters Patent and Proclamations) Order makes this provision (S.I. 1999/737).
Subsection (4) allows for impressions of the Scottish Seal to be made, the exact details of size and material being specified in a direction made by the First Minister. The Wafer Scottish Seal Directions 1999 (S.S.I. 1999/130) were made by the First Minister on 19 October 1999.
Subsection (5) states that each impression provided for in subsection (4) is to be known as a Wafer Scottish Seal and shall be kept in accordance with directions made by the First Minister.
Subsection (6) states that if a Wafer Scottish Seal is used on any Letters Patent signifying Royal Assent to Bills of the Scottish Parliament or any royal proclamation dissolving the Parliament and providing for elections then that document has the same validity as if it had passed under the Scottish Seal.
Commentary Details of Provisions