Affiliation:
1. Law School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
2. School of Social and Political Science, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Abstract
In the 2016 Brexit referendum, Scotland voted decisively to Remain in the EU, while a UK-wide majority voted to Leave. This article discusses responses to the constitutional significance of a territorially divided result, both prior to and following the referendum, including in litigation over the ‘constitutional requirements’ necessary to trigger the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU under Article 50 TEU ( R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union). It considers what these debates reveal about the uncertain and contested nature of the UK’s territorial constitution, focusing on issues of constitutional security for devolved institutions and competences, and constitutional voice for the devolved territories in handling issues of intertwined competence. It argues that the Brexit episode reveals major weaknesses in the dominant reliance on political mechanisms to give recognition to the constitutional significance of devolution, which do not adequately displace continued legal adherence to the assumptions of a unitary constitution.
Subject
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law,Political Science and International Relations
Reference34 articles.
1. British Devolution and European Policy-Making
2. Constitutional Commission (1994) Further steps: Towards a scheme for Scotland’s Parliament. A Report to the Scottish Constitutional Convention by the Scottish Constitutional Commission, Constitutional Convention, Edinburgh.
Cited by
46 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献