[4] The Bill was presented to the House of Commons by the Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore, on St Andrew's Day (30 November), 2010, and received an unopposed second reading on 27 January 2012.

[10] The Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore, described the legislation as the largest transfer of fiscal powers from central Government since the creation of the United Kingdom.

[12] However, the SNP agreed to support the Bill, after the proposals to return certain powers were dropped,[13] and agreement was reached that the details of the income tax changes would be subject to approval by MSPs.

Given that, alongside being the adviser to and representative of the Scottish Government in Scots law, the Lord Advocate is head of the system of criminal prosecution in Scotland and every prosecution in a Scottish court proceeds with his/her authority, this provision effectively allows any human rights issue raised in any criminal proceedings in Scotland effectively to be appealed to the UK Supreme Court as a constitutional "devolution issue".

The Scottish Government remains concerned that the amendments may not fully address the issue, particularly as a result of the decision of the Supreme Court in Fraser v HM Advocate, and appointed their own expert group, chaired by Lord McCluskey, to consider the matter and report back.