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The Act was introduced by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government in 1998 to give effect to the [[1997 Scottish devolution referendum|Scottish devolution referendum in 1997]] which showed that Scotland was in favour of both of the set questions, firstly for the creation of a [[parliament]] for [[Scotland]] and secondly, that this parliament should have tax varying powers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12283597.There_shall_be_a_Scottish_Parliament_Consensus/ |title=There shall be a Scottish Parliament Consensus |first1=Murray |last1=Ritchie |first2=Robbie |last2=Dinwoodie |work=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]] |date=19 December 1997 |access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref> The Act creates the [[Scottish Parliament]], sets out how [[Member of the Scottish Parliament|Members of the Scottish Parliament]] are to be elected,<ref>Sections 1 to 18.</ref> makes some provision about the internal operation of the Parliament<ref>Sections 19 to 27, 39 to 43.</ref> (although many issues are left for the Parliament itself to regulate) and sets out the process for the Parliament to consider and pass Bills which become [[Act of the Scottish Parliament|Acts of the Scottish Parliament]] once they receive [[royal assent]].<ref>Sections 28 to 36.</ref> The Act specifically declares the continued power of the UK Parliament to legislate in respect of Scotland;<ref>Section 28(7).</ref> thereby upholding the concept of Westminster's absolute [[Parliamentary sovereignty]].
The Act also provides for the creation of a 'Scottish Executive'<ref>Section 44.</ref> though one of the early actions of the [[First Salmond government|SNP administration]] that won power in the [[2007 Scottish Parliament election|2007 elections]] was to rebrand the Scottish Executive, as the group of Ministers and their civil servants had been known, as the [[Scottish Government]]. Despite the re-branding, the 'Scottish Executive' still uses the original description for a number of purposes (s.44 of the Scotland Act defines the nature of the body but does not use the words "shall be known as" with regard to a name as is the case with various other bodies whose names are thus fixed by statute). It consists of a [[First Minister of Scotland|First Minister]] and other Ministers appointed by the
The Act sets out the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. Rather than listing the matters over which the Scottish Parliament does control (devolved powers), it specifies the matters over which it does not (reserved matters).<ref>Schedule 5.</ref> It further designates a list of statutes which are not amenable to amendment or repeal by the Parliament<ref>Schedule 4</ref> which includes the [[Human Rights Act 1998]] and many provisions of the Scotland Act itself. Even when acting within its legislative competence, the Act further constrains the powers of the Parliament by inhibiting it from acting in a manner incompatible with the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] or [[European Economic Community|European Community]] law.<ref>Section 29(2)(d).</ref> The same constraints apply to acts of the Scottish Executive.<ref>Section 57(2).</ref>
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