Potential constitutional designs for an independent Scotland

Abstract

In 2014 the Scots voted by a small margin against the proposal that their country should become independent from the United Kingdom. However, in 2016 British citizens chose, again with a knife-edge majority of votes, that the United Kingdom should leave the European Union. Motivated by this fact and backed by continuous voters' support expressed in regional and national elections, Scottish political elite has been for many years expressing the ambition to demand a second referendum for independence. In case that another noteworthy occasion for establishing an independent Scottish state arrives in the near future, answering the question regarding its plausible constitutional foundations gains noteworthy value. Some of the responses to this question are contained in earlier proposals for a written constitution for Scotland, but many other had already been established in 1997 by the devolved institutions in that part of the United Kingdom. They are recognized as well-grounded to be transferred into the constitutional structure that a new independent state at the North of the British Isle could adopt. Potential constitutional foundations for Scotland are not shallow. They have been developing for more than half a century and could readily be put in place if Scotland gains independence. In this article available models for the constitutional arrangements for an independent Scotland are analyzed, coupled with the principles on which the new state would be based on, and proposed institutional frameworks for an independent Scotland are outlined.