Does Scotland have the right to secede?

Scotland's succession rights

Stephen Richard — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 21:47:53 +0000

Scotland's succession rights Stephen Richard Fri, 10/15/2021 - 22:47

Author or Creator

Stephen Richard

It is unlikely that other countries would recognise Scotland as an independent country unless a referendum or some other legally agreed method were approved by the UK government. Succession without agreement would cause a very difficult period for Scotland.

Keywords

Independence declaration

International recognition

Unions and Citizens: Membership Status and Political Rights in the Scotland, the UK and the EU

Stephen Richard — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 07:04:36 +0000

Unions and Citizens: Membership Status and Political Rights in the Scotland, the UK and the EU

Primary Author or Creator

Shaw

Stephen Richard Sun, 09/26/2021 - 08:04

Additional Author(s) / Creators

University of Edinburgh

Date Published

Sat, 03/05/2016 - 12:00

Category

Independence

Type of Resource

Academic Paper

Length (Pages, words, minutes etc...)

26pp

Fast Facts

This chapter makes use of the lenses of citizenship to explore the interaction between the two dimensions of ‘troubled membership’. It locates legal change in its broader political context and focuses on contested boundaries of polity membership. This explores the content of a possible future Scottish citizenship, and examines the formal legal membership and political citizenship in respect of both the Scottish referendum and the UK’s referendum on EU membership. The threads are drawn together in a discussion of how the EU referendum outcomes may impact upon the issue at the heart of the Scottish referendum debate, namely the ongoing viability of the UK as a union state.

More details

This chapter makes use of the lenses of citizenship to explore the interaction between the two dimensions of ‘troubled membership’. It applies a law-and-politics approach, which locates legal change in its broader political context and focuses on the contestation of the boundaries of polity membership. After setting the scene (Section 2), the chapter explores the content of a possible future Scottish citizenship regime (Section 3) and then examines the intertwining of formal legal membership and political citizenship in respect of both the Scottish referendum and the UK’s referendum on EU membership (Section 4). The threads are drawn together in the conclusions (Section 5) through a discussion of how the EU referendum outcomes may impact upon the issue at the heart of the Scottish referendum debate, namely the ongoing viability of the UK as a union state.

In the book: C. Closa (ed.), Secession from a Member State and Withdrawal from the European Union: Troubled Membership, Cambridge University Press, 2016, Forthcoming, Edinburgh School of Law Research Paper No. 2016/05, Europa Working Paper No 2016/03,

Resource Address (URL)

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2742526

Keywords

Language English

For freedom alone: Secession after the Scottish referendum

Stephen Richard — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 06:51:12 +0000

For freedom alone: Secession after the Scottish referendum

Primary Author or Creator

Timothy William Waters

Stephen Richard Sun, 09/26/2021 - 07:51

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Cambridge University Press

Date Published

Tue, 11/20/2018 - 12:00

Category

Independence

Type of Resource

Academic Paper

Length (Pages, words, minutes etc...)

20pp

Fast Facts

The UK is the rare country that acknowledges the possibility of its own division. Great Britain's acquiescence made Scottish secession possible. The pathways of Scottish secession have been an insular affair, a function of particularly British law and politics, in which international law played little role.

More details

In September 2014, the people of Scotland voted on whether or not to become an independent state. The consequences of independence would have been complex –decisions about accession to the EU, currency union, defense. Seemingly less dramatic, yet no less important, are the consequences of Scotland not seceding — the effects in global law and politics of the very fact that the referendum happened, and that it failed. Many elements of the Scottish case find close parallels in claims for secession elsewhere in the world. Yet those claims more often meet less welcoming receptions. Indeed, it is not the attempt to secede, but the existing state's acquiescence that marks this case as different: The UK is the rare country that acknowledges the possibility of its own division. Great Britain's acquiescence both made Scottish secession possible and made it an outlier, whose precedential value must be closely interrogated. The key missing element is any evidence that the process was shaped by a sense of international legal obligation — indeed, the pathways of Scottish secession have been an insular affair, a function of particularly British law and politics, in which international law played little role. This article argues that the Scottish referendum provides little precedent for a changing legal norm — yet also offers a compelling model for how such a new norm ought to look. This article is about something that did not happen, and why it does not matter — but also why precisely that is so important.

Nationalities Papers , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , January 2016 , pp. 124 - 143

Paywall

Resource Address (URL)

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/abs/for-fr…

Keywords

independence

secession

Language English

Scotland, Secession, and the European Union

Stephen Richard — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 06:37:33 +0000

Scotland, Secession, and the European Union

Primary Author or Creator

Sionaidh Douglas-Scott

Stephen Richard Sun, 09/26/2021 - 07:37

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Queen Mary School of Law

Date Published

Wed, 01/16/2019 - 12:00

Category

Independence

Type of Resource

Academic Paper

Length (Pages, words, minutes etc...)

22pp

Fast Facts

This paper discusses Scotland’s relationship with the EU in the context of two different secession events. The first concerns the question of an independent Scotland’s EU membership in the event of Scotland’s secession from the UK. The second discusses the position of Scotland in the context of a UK in-out referendum on EU membership. This chapter concludes that in neither case should Scotland be forced to leave the EU against its will.

More details

Queen Mary School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 301/2019

Resource Address (URL)

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3316715

Keywords

European Union

2014 independence referendum

secession

Brexit

Language English

Scotland's right to choose: putting Scotland's future in Scotland's hands

Stephen Richard — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 12:03:50 +0000

Scotland's right to choose: putting Scotland's future in Scotland's hands

Primary Author or Creator

Scottish Government

Stephen Richard Sat, 09/25/2021 - 13:03

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Add additional Authors and/or Publisher

Date Published

Thu, 12/19/2019 - 12:00

Category

Independence

Type of Resource

government report

Fast Facts

The right of the people of Scotland to determine the form of government best suited to their needs has been consistently accepted for decades across the political spectrum, and is powerfully demonstrated by Scotland's recent history.

Resource Address (URL)

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-right-choose-putting-scotlands-futu…

Keywords

independence

Referendum

Language English