Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980

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Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make further provision as regards criminal justice in Scotland; and for connected purposes.
Citation	1980 c. 62
Territorial extent	Scotland
Dates
Royal assent	13 November 1980
Commencement	1 February 1981
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980^[1] (c. 62) is an act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Most of the act's provisions were merely a consolidation of already existing legislation, and as such subject to little controversy, with the notable exception was section 80, which partially decriminalised private homosexual acts between consenting adults in Scotland.^[2]

Subject to the provisions of this section, a homosexual act in private shall not be an offence provided that the parties consent thereto and have attained the age of twenty-one years.
— Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, section 80(1)

The homosexual age of consent fixed by the Act (21) was much higher than the heterosexual age of consent in the United Kingdom, which had been set at 16 since the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885. The ages of consent for homosexual and heterosexual acts in Scotland were eventually equalised twenty years later with the passage of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000.