The High Court unanimously rules that the Scottish Parliament has no power to issue a consultation without London’s consent
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has denied that the Scottish Parliament has the right to call a referendum, in a unanimous decision by the five judges of a court chaired by Scotsman John Reed. In its decision, the court also rejects Scotland’s claim to the right to self-determination as enshrined in international law.
The Supreme’s decision comes in response to a request from Dorothy Bain, Lord Advocate for the Scottish Government, for the court to clarify definitively whether the Edinburgh Parliament has the power to call a consultative referendum on independence. The two days of the case analyzed the terms of the law governing relations between London and the Home Rule Government in 1998.
The judges recall that the London Autonomy Act reserves a range of powers, including those relating to the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England. Lord Reed, reading the summary of the sentence, emphasized that the fact that the referendum is advisory only does not prevent it from having “practical effects” in relation to the Union.
The judges also unanimously rejected the self-determination argument, advanced on behalf of the Scottish National Party (SNP), which allowed the court to appear as the duped party at the trial. The magistrates tell the SNP that it cannot invoke the famous Federal Court of Canada ruling on Quebec because it also reserves the right to self-determination to colonized or oppressed populations.
The question is now being asked because Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has drafted a bill to hold a referendum in October 2023, which would ask the public whether Scotland “should be an independent country”. Successive British governments have denied Sturgeon the transfer of powers to consult, as happened in 2014.
Sturgeon publishes papers outlining the institutional future of a Scotland separate from the United Kingdom. He has also promised that, in the event that the Supreme Court denies him the power to call the referendum, his party will go to the general election scheduled for 2024 with the single election pledge to call the referendum, thus strengthening its legitimacy. strengthen.
Source: La Verdad
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