Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Schedule 5) Order 2026 and comes into force on the day after the day on which it is made.

(2) This Order extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Assisted dying: identification and regulation of substances and devices

2. In Part 3 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 (reserved matters: general provisions), after paragraph 4 insert—

Assisted dying: identification and regulation of substances and devices

4A.—(1) This Schedule does not reserve the conferral of a power on the Scottish Ministers to identify, by way of subordinate legislation made with the agreement of the Secretary of State, substances or devices for use in assisting terminally ill adults to voluntarily end their own lives.

(2) This Schedule does not reserve the conferral of a power on the Secretary of State to regulate such substances or devices by way of subordinate legislation made without the agreement of the Scottish Ministers or any other person (except Parliament).

(3) The exceptions created by sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) apply only in relation to a provision that is contained in an Act of the Parliament resulting from a Bill passed on or before 7 May 2026.

(4) The exceptions created by sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply in relation to a provision that—

(a)mandates or restricts—

(i)the substances or types of substances that may be identified;

(ii)the devices or types of devices that may be identified;

(iii)how the substances or devices may be regulated;

(b)mandates or restricts the period within which subordinate legislation may be made or agreed to;

(c)imposes a duty on the Secretary of State.

(5) In sub-paragraph (4)(c), the reference to imposing a duty on the Secretary of State does not include reference to—

(a)requiring that subordinate legislation be made by statutory instrument to which the Statutory Instruments Act 1946(3) applies, or

(b)providing that subordinate legislation may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.”.