- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As enacted)
Scotland Act 1998
You are here:
What Version
Advanced Features
- Show Geographical Extent(e.g. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
- Show Timeline of Changes
Opening Options
More Resources
Changes over time for: Section 15
Changes to legislation:
There are currently no known outstanding effects for the Scotland Act 1998, Section 15.
Changes to Legislation
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. At the current time any known changes or effects made by subsequent legislation have been applied to the text of the legislation you are viewing by the editorial team. Please see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ for details regarding the timescales for which new effects are identified and recorded on this site.
15 Disqualification from membership of the Parliament.U.K.
This section has no associated Explanatory Notes
(1)A person is disqualified from being a member of the Parliament (subject to section 16) if—
(a)[F1the person would be] disqualified from being a member of the House of Commons under paragraphs (a) to (e) of section 1(1) of the M1House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 (judges, civil servants, members of the armed forces, members of police forces and members of foreign legislatures) [F2as that Act had effect on 27 April 2022],
(b)[F3the person would be disqualified] (either generally or in relation to a particular parliamentary constituency) from being a member of the House of Commons or from sitting and voting in it [F4under any other enactment or rule of law as that enactment or rule of law had effect on 27 April 2022],
[F5(bza)the person is a member of the House of Commons,]
[F6(bzb)the person is a member of the House of Lords,]
[F7(bzc)the person is a councillor,]
[F8(ba)the person is subject to—
(i)any relevant notification requirements, or
(ii)a relevant sexual harm or risk order,]
[F9(bb)the person is subject to a Scottish disqualification order under section 8 of the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025,]
[F10(bc)the person is subject to a disqualification order under section 30 of the Elections Act 2022 (disqualification of offenders from holding elective office etc),]
F11(c). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(d)he is an office-holder of a description specified in an Order in Council made by Her Majesty under this subsection.
(2)An office-holder of a description specified in an Order in Council made by Her Majesty under this subsection is disqualified from being a member of the Parliament for any constituency or region of a description specified in the Order in relation to the office-holder.
(3)In this section “office-holder” includes employee or other post-holder.
[F12(4)In this section and in section 16—
[F13“councillor” means a member of a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.]
“relevant notification requirements” has the same meaning as in section 31(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, and
“relevant sexual harm or risk order” has the same meaning as in section 31(5) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.]
Textual Amendments
F1Words in s. 15(1)(a) substituted (1.8.2025) by Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 (asp 4), ss. 20(2)(a)(i), 73(2); S.S.I. 2025/106, reg. 2(1)(b), sch. Pt. 2
F2Words in s. 15(1)(a) inserted (S.) (1.8.2025) by Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 (asp 4), ss. 20(2)(a)(ii), 73(2); S.S.I. 2025/106, reg. 2(1)(b), sch. Pt. 2
F3Words in s. 15(1)(b) substituted (1.8.2025) by Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 (asp 4), ss. 20(2)(b)(i), 73(2); S.S.I. 2025/106, reg. 2(1)(b), sch. Pt. 2
F4Words in s. 15(1)(b) inserted (1.8.2025) by Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 (asp 4), ss. 20(2)(b)(ii), 73(2); S.S.I. 2025/106, reg. 2(1)(b), sch. Pt. 2
F5S. 15(1)(bza) inserted (31.10.2025) by The Scottish Parliament (Disqualification of Members of the House of Commons) Regulations 2025 (S.S.I. 2025/307), regs. 1(2), 3 (with reg. 1(3))
F6S. 15(1)(bzb) inserted (31.10.2025) by The Scottish Parliament (Disqualification of Members of the House of Lords) Regulations 2025 (S.S.I. 2025/308), regs. 1(2), 3 (with reg. 1(3))
F7S. 15(1)(bzc) inserted (31.10.2025) by The Scottish Parliament (Disqualification of Councillors) Regulations 2025 (S.S.I. 2025/306), regs. 1(2), 3(a) (with reg. 1(3))
F8S. 15(1)(ba) inserted (1.8.2025) by Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 (asp 4), ss. 6(2)(a), 73(2) (with s. 19(1)); S.S.I. 2025/106, reg. 2(1)(b), sch. Pt. 2
F9S. 15(1)(bb) inserted (1.8.2025) by Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 (asp 4), ss. 12(2), 73(2); S.S.I. 2025/106, reg. 2(1)(b), sch. Pt. 2
F10S. 15(1)(bc) inserted (1.8.2025) by Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 (asp 4), ss. 15(2), 73(2); S.S.I. 2025/106, reg. 2(1)(b), sch. Pt. 2
F11S. 15(1)(c) repealed (1.10.2009) by Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4), ss. 40(4), 146, 148(1), Sch. 9 para. 94, Sch. 18 Pt. 5; S.I. 2009/1604, art. 2
F12S. 15(4) inserted (S.) (1.8.2025) by Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 (asp 4), ss. 6(2)(b), 73(2) (with s. 19(1)); S.S.I. 2025/106, reg. 2(1)(b), sch. Pt. 2
F13Words in s. 15(4) inserted (31.10.2025) by The Scottish Parliament (Disqualification of Councillors) Regulations 2025 (S.S.I. 2025/306), regs. 1(2), 3(b) (with reg. 1(3))
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 15 extended (11.3.1999) by S.I. 1999/787, arts. 1, 6, Sch. 2 Pt. II para. 9(4)(b)(i)
S. 15 applied (1.4.2000) by S.S.I. 2000/47, art. 5, Sch. Pt. II
C2S. 15(1): power to modify conferred (S.) (14.4.2025) by Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 (asp 4), ss. 3, 4, 5, 73(2); S.S.I. 2025/106, reg. 2(1)(a), sch. Pt. 1
Marginal Citations
Options/Help
Print Options
PrintThe Whole Act
PrintThe Whole Part
PrintThe Whole Cross Heading
PrintThis Section only
You have chosen to open The Whole Act
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open The Whole Act as a PDF
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open the Whole Act
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open Schedules only
The Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
Legislation is available in different versions:
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
See additional information alongside the content
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Opening Options
Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once
Explanatory Notes
Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.
More Resources
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- correction slips
- links to related legislation and further information resources
Timeline of Changes
This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.
More Resources
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- correction slips
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- links to related legislation and further information resources
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. This site additionally contains content derived from EUR-Lex, reused under the terms of the Commission Decision 2011/833/EU on the reuse of documents from the EU institutions. For more information see the EUR-Lex public statement on re-use.