https://sil2.e-infinitum.com/ en https://sil2.e-infinitum.com/how-does-scotland-produce-constitution <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">How does Scotland produce a constitution?</span> <div class="field field--name-field-related-questions field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Question Answered</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/52" hreflang="en">Does Scotland need a written Constitution</a></div> </div> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span lang="" about="/user/18" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Stephen Richard</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Thu, 10/28/2021 - 14:59</span> <div class="field field--name-field-author-or-creator field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author or Creator</div> <div class="field__item">Common Weal</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><span><span><strong>How does Scotland produce a constitution?</strong></span></span></p> <p><span><span><em>Does Scotland need a written constitution?</em></span></span></p> <p><span><span>Absolutely. Almost every country in the world has a written constitution and they are crucial for the proper functioning of a nation. They define how democracy works, enshrine legal rights and make sure that there is way to prevent the abuse of power of people in government.</span></span></p> <p><span><span><em>How do we produce one?</em></span></span></p> <p><span><span>First of all, it is so important to have a constitution in place from day one that we need to have an interim constitution ready very quickly. In fact we should have an interim constitution prepared before the referendum to act as a 'guarantee to the people' that Scotland will be an open, democratic nation if they vote for independence. This would define the basics – how elections are to be held, how parliament will work, enshrining the rule of law and so on. This is a largely technical document. There are many respected international 'constitution builders' – general NGOs that support nations in developing their constitutions. Producing an interim constitution based on how democracy and justice in Scotland actually works is a comparatively straightforward task.</span></span></p> <p><span><span><em>Is that not enough?</em></span></span></p> <p><span><span>No. An interim constitution should be as short as possible and contain only the minimum detail. Constitutions are about more than just 'the rules' – they are also a statement of the kind of nation you want to be. They can be short and technical or long and filled with principle, more 'law' or more 'poetry'. It is our choice – but it must be our choice which means it must have the support of the population and in the modern world it is highly desirable that it is actually produced by the population in a participatory process.</span></span></p> <p><span><span><em>How?</em></span></span></p> <p><span><span>Again there is very good international best practice on how to do this. It involves all sorts of practices like Citizens Assemblies, town hall meetings and discussion groups with ways to pull it all together.</span></span></p> <p><span><span><em>How would we manage the process?</em></span></span></p> <p><span><span>An interim constitution would be ready before the referendum as a 'guaranteed minimum'. Then if Scotland votes for independence there would be more than two years to run a large participatory process to find out what people want from their constitution and what they want in their constitution. At the end of this the final constitution should be put to the people in a referendum – if they felt it didn't capture their expectations and rejected it there would then be the interim constitution to fall back on.</span></span></p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-keywords field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/592" hreflang="en">Constitution for Scotland</a></div> </div> </div> Thu, 28 Oct 2021 13:59:50 +0000 Stephen Richard 13 at https://sil2.e-infinitum.com https://sil2.e-infinitum.com/foundations-freedom-discussion-paper-process-establishing-independent-scotlands-constitution-0 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Foundations for Freedom: A discussion paper on the process for establishing an independent Scotland’s Constitution</span> <div class="field field--name-field-author-or-creator field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Primary Author or Creator</div> <div class="field__item">W. Elliot Bulmer</div> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span lang="" about="/user/18" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Stephen Richard</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Sun, 09/12/2021 - 09:11</span> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-author-s-creato field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Additional Author(s) / Creators</div> <div class="field__item">Common Weal</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-alternative-published-date field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Alternative Published Date</div> <div class="field__item">May 2018</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-category field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Category</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/105" hreflang="en">Constitution</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-type field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Type of Resource</div> <div class="field__item">Discussion Paper</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Fast Facts</div> <div class="field__item"><p>This paper discusses the principles on which an independent Scotland should found the writing of a formal constitution as well as the method by which such a constitution could be determined by the people of Scotland via citizens’ assemblies and a referendum.</p> <p>An example constitution for Scotland is included for the purposes of opening such a discussion.</p></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-precis field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">More details</div> <div class="field__item"><p>― Although some conservative academics continue to defend the British doctrine of parliamentary absolutism, theoretical arguments against constitutionalism appear to be increasingly irrelevant in Scotland. A written Constitution is the international norm. It is expected and demanded. No matter, therefore, how far-fetched the idea of adopting a written Constitution might be in the UK as a whole, in the context of an independent Scotland it has become a basic necessity.</p> <p>― The Scottish independence movement, both within and beyond the SNP, has long recognised this. The SNP, as well as the Scottish Green Party and a broad range of civil society organisations have publicly recognized that a Constitution is not an optional extra, but an essential basis for the legitimacy, stability, success and longevity of Scottish democracy post-independence. In asking for clear commitments to be made to a constitutional transition process, we are not asking for a change of policy, but for an undertaking to honour longstanding promises.</p> <p>― The best course of action is to develop a fully worked Provisional Constitution, by means of a Constitutional Conference, before the next referendum. The Constitutional Conference should be as representative as possible and as open and inclusive in its activities as possible, so that even if the Unionist politicians choose to boycott the Conference it has broad public legitimacy (akin to that achieved by the Constitutional Convention in the 1990s despite the absence of the SNP and Conservatives). The next independence referendum would then be held on the specific question of approving the Constitution approved by the Constitutional Conference – which Constitution would, if approved, come into effect on independence day. That Constitution would provide the institutional and legal basis for a Scottish State, at least on a provisional basis.</p> <p>― However, the Provisional Constitution need not be a final settlement. There would be scope for a subsequent period of post independence constitution-making, by means of an inclusive and participatory process, in which the issues that are avoided by the Conference in the name of stability and expediency – like, for example, the question of a republic or the expansion of socio-economic rights – could be addressed, should there be sufficient public demand.</p></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-resource-url field--type-link field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Resource Address (URL)</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item"><a href="https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Foundations-for-Freedom.pdf">https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Foundations-for-Freedom.pdf</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-keywords field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/592" hreflang="en">Constitution for Scotland</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-related-questions field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Related Questions</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/37" hreflang="en">How will Scotland be governed?</a></div> </div> </div> <div id="field-language-display"> <fieldset class="js-form-item js-form-type-item form-type-item js-form-item- form-item- form-group"> <label>Language</label> English </fieldset> </div> Sun, 12 Sep 2021 08:11:43 +0000 Stephen Richard 339 at https://sil2.e-infinitum.com