Tag: Scottish Government
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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,…
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Iain Halliday: Can the Scottish Parliament Legislate for a Second Independence Referendum?
Following the December 2019 election result, which resulted in the Conservative party winning an overall majority, but losing several of their seats in Scotland to the SNP, there has been renewed calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence. There is an ongoing debate regarding whether the Scottish Government and Parliament can hold a referendum…
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Chris McCorkindale and Aileen McHarg: Constitutional Pathways to a Second Scottish Independence Referendum
The Scottish Government’s Case for a Second Independence Referendum On 19 December 2019 – a week after the Westminster General Election at which the SNP, again, won an overwhelming majority of Scottish seats – the Scottish Government published its long-awaited case for a second independence referendum: Scotland’s Right to Choose: Putting Scotland’s Future in Scotland’s…
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Chris McCorkindale and Aileen McHarg: Continuity and Confusion: Towards Clarity? – The Supreme Court and the Scottish Continuity Bill
Introduction The Supreme Court has now handed down its judgment in The UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill – A reference by the Attorney General and the Advocate General for Scotland. The Bill marked a series of firsts: a consequence of the first UK statute to be passed notwithstanding the refusal…
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Ewan Smith and Alison Young: “That’s how it worked in 2014, and how it would have to work again”
On the 9th of March, writing for the BBC, Laura Kuenssberg, the political editor of the BBC said “it’s up to the Westminster government to permit another [Scottish] referendum.” Six days earlier, Sarah Smith, the Scotland editor of the BBC said: “The Prime Minister knows she could easily prevent another referendum by simply refusing to…
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Stephen Tierney: A Second Independence Referendum in Scotland: The Legal Issues
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today announced the Scottish Government’s intention to hold a second referendum on independence between the autumn of 2018 and the spring of 2019. The move comes in the week when it is widely anticipated that the United Kingdom Government will serve notice under Article 50 of the Treaty of European…
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HRA Watch: Reform, Repeal, Replace? Mark Elliott: Could the Devolved Nations Block Repeal of the Human Rights Act and the Enactment of a New Bill of Rights?
Editors’ note: The blog is inviting constitutional lawyers to comment on the UK Government’s proposal to repeal and replace the Human Rights Act. We continue with a post by Dr Mark Elliott, Reader in Public Law at the University of Cambridge. You can read the other contributions in this series here. Posts on the topic are welcome. …