Category: Devolution
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Event: New book symposium – Brexit, Union, and Disunion
Tuesday, 1 October 2024, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM The Schools of Law at Queen Mary University of London and at the University of Edinburgh are delighted to co-host an online symposium of Professor Sionaidh Douglas-Scott’s new book: Brexit, Union, and Disunion (cambridge.org). The panel of commentators are: The event will be chaired by Professor…
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Stephen Tierney: Towards a Principle of Positive Engagement?: The House of Lords Constitution Committee reports on The Governance of the Union
Over the past decade the House of Lords Constitution Committee has immersed itself in the principles, purposes and operation of devolution. Last week marked 10 years since the referendum on Scottish independence, and in that time the Committee has published multiple reports on the changing face of the territorial constitution, offering encouragement, detailed critique and…
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Thomas Horsley: Relations Reset or Regression? Devolution and the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill
On 4 September 2024, the UK Government published the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill (the PRMB). Introduced in the Lords, the PRMB is certainly not the most headline-grabbing Bill announced in the King’s Speech. Its substance – product standards and weights and measures – is important, but unlikely to excite the masses. However, as the…
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Chris McCorkindale and Aileen McHarg: The Territorial Constitution and the 2024 UK General Election
The Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Labour manifestos offer markedly different visions for the future of devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland after the 2024 UK General Election . At one extreme, the Liberal Democrats offer fundamental constitutional reform. If elected, they have promised to ‘transfer greater powers away from Westminster and Whitehall’ by ‘[strengthening] the voices of England, Wales, Scotland…
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Nicholas Kilford: Interpreting The Devolution Statutes
*Editors’ Note: This post is part of the ‘Unwritten Constitutional Norms and Principles Blog Series’* Throughout the life of devolution, the courts appear to have diverged on how to properly determine the scope and limits of devolved lawmaking power, and the extent to which norms and principles not expressly contained in the text of the…
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Paolo Sandro: Devolution and the Phantom Menace: An alternative view on the appropriate intensity of judicial scrutiny of the s.35 Scotland Act 1998 order
Michael Foran has eloquently defended on this blog the decision by Lady Haldane in Re Scottish Minister’s Petition 2023 CSOH 89 which found the Secretary of State for Scotland’s maiden exercise of the power contained in s.35 of the Scotland Act lawful. I will not repeat here the discussion of the particulars of the case, nor the precise step-by-step illustration of…
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Michael Foran: Section 35 and the Separation of Powers: On the Role of Unwritten Constitutional Principles in the Interpretation of the Scotland Act
This week, the Outer House of the Court of Session delivered judgment in Re Scottish Minister’s Petition 2023 CSOH 89. The case concerned the lawfulness of an Order made under section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from receiving Royal Assent. I wrote about this possibility at…
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Chris McCorkindale: UK Delegated Law-Making Powers in Devolved Areas: The Accountability Gap
*Editors’ note – this post is part of a series on ‘Contemporary Challenges for Constitutional Accountability’. The other posts in the series are available here.* On 24 October 2023 the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture (CEEAC) Committee of the Scottish Parliament published the second of two reports this session concerned with devolution in the post-EU era.…
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Thomas Horsley: Managing the External Effects of Devolved Legislation: Virtual Representation, Self-Rule and the UK’s Territorial Constitution
The Scottish Government is presently seeking judicial review of the UK Government’s decision to block Royal Assent for the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (GRRB) using s.35 of the Scotland Act 1998 (SA). The Court of Session’s decision, which may yet end up before the UK Supreme Court on appeal, is eagerly awaited, not least given the electricity of…
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Chris McCorkindale and Aileen McHarg: Rescuing the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill? The Scottish Government’s Challenge to the Section 35 Order
Introduction On 17 January, the Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack MP, made an Order under s.35 of the Scotland Act 1998 prohibiting the Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer from presenting the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (GRR Bill) for Royal Assent. The Bill, which was passed with cross party support on 22 December 2022,…