The Legal Research Society

Alex Salmond, Scotland’s nationalist First Minister, today launched a White Paper (available here ) regarding Scotland’s constitutional settlement. As expected, the national discussion that is proposed includes the thorny question of Scottish independence. The First Minister proposes that a referendum should end the union between Scotland and England. Given that the majority of Members of the Scottish Parliament are opposed to independence, it is unlikely that a proposed referendum on independence will see the light of day (see the reactions of other parties here ). Still the SNP executive is adamant that the discussion shall be had. The White Paper recalls that the revived Scottish Parliament is now almost ten years old. It is argued that devolution has borne fruit; the people of Scotland are invited to discuss the pros and cons of taking devolution further - ‘further devolution could...provide greater coherence in decision-making and democratic accountability for delivery of policy.’...

The ongoing constitutional reform in the UK took an unexpected but welcome turn yesterday when the House of Commons voted to replace the House of Lords with a completely elected second chamber. Britain was a pioneer of democratic reform in centuries past but resistance to change has left this State with an Attorney General who straddles all three branches of government, a legislative chamber that is composed of political appointees and an electoral system that guarantees perverse results to the detriment of any semblance of proportional representation. Although it isn’t clear that yesterday’s Commons vote will bear fruit, it seems like the ball is rolling. The Lords will resist the measure but the transformation of this State looks inevitable. Britain is far from achieving an acceptable constitutional settlement but there is an unprecedented consensus for modernisation. The coming years should be interesting from a constitutional perspective. The current level of public scrutiny may e...