Scotland's Lord Advocate is to be questioned on ministers' plans to introduce a European Continuity Bill at Holyrood.
James Wolfe, Scotland's most senior law officer, is to give a statement on the legislation to Holyrood.
It comes after Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh said the Bill "would not be within the legislative competence of the Parliament".
It is the first time ministers at Holyrood have introduced a piece of legislation that has been ruled to be outside the Parliament's legislative area.
READ MORE: Fresh EU crisis for May as Sturgeon tables rival Brexit Bill
Brexit Minister Mike Russell told MSPs on Tuesday that the Scottish Government was "mindful of what a serious moment it is".
But he said the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill was "essential preparation" for Brexit and made clear the Lord Advocate was "satisfied that the Bill is within the legislative competence of the Parliament".
The legislation was introduced to the Scottish Parliament as a stand-off continued between Edinburgh and Westminster over where powers should go when Britain quits the European Union.
The EU Withdrawal Bill has been put forward by the UK Government to transpose EU law into British law so the same rules apply on the day of Brexit as the day before, but Scottish and Welsh ministers have repeatedly branded this a "power grab" which threatens devolution.
That is because some devolved powers currently held by Brussels would transfer not to Edinburgh but London - a measure the UK Government insists is necessary to establish common frameworks across all of Britain.
READ MORE: Fresh EU crisis for May as Sturgeon tables rival Brexit Bill
A series of talks between Holyrood and London has failed to break the deadlock, and with the Scottish Government refusing to consent to the Westminster Bill, ministers in Edinburgh have brought forward their own legislation
Mr Russell said: "It is simply not acceptable for Westminster to unilaterally rewrite the devolution settlement and impose UK-wide frameworks in devolved areas without our consent.
"If there is not a change in position by the UK Government, we will be faced with legislation to which we cannot recommend that this Parliament gives consent.
"In that situation, we believe that the constitutionally correct position, consistent with the devolution settlement, would be for the UK Government to remove those matters not consented to from this Bill, and for this Parliament to make its own provision in that regard."
READ MORE: Fresh EU crisis for May as Sturgeon tables rival Brexit Bill
Scottish Secretary David Mundell said: "The Scottish Government has said that its preferred option is to work with the UK Government to agree an amendment to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, and I welcome Mr Russell's restatement of that today. We will continue to discuss this with them, and are focused on achieving agreement.
"We have been clear that we will protect and enhance the devolution settlement as we leave the EU, and that there will be a significant increase in Holyrood's decision-making powers. But it is crucial we protect the UK's valuable common market, and to do so we will need common approaches across the UK in some areas.
"We have made a considerable offer to the devolved administrations on amending the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, and look forward to further constructive talks."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel