The government’s lawyer believes that Sturgeon’s request for the court to clarify his rights is incoherent
The Lord Solicitor of the Scottish Government, Dorothy Bain, expressed her doubts about the legality of the bill for the organization of an independence referendum that Nicola Sturgeon presented in June. The chief minister asked Bain to apply to the UK High Court for her opinion on the legality of her endeavour.
For two days, the highest British court has heard the arguments of the parties. For Bain, it is a matter of the utmost importance that the court clears up a “festering issue” in Scotland’s political debate. The question is whether the law that created the autonomy – which divides the powers between those returned to Edinburgh and those reserved by the London Parliament – allows Sturgeon to present that bill.
In the chapter on reserved powers, a chapter is included -The Constitution- and in one of the sections it is specified that, among constitutional issues, “the unity of the kingdoms of Scotland and England” is reserved. Bain suggests that the bill does not automatically lead to a referendum, that it really only serves the purpose of consulting the population.
Lawyer James Eady, a veteran of representing the London Government before the Supreme Court, argues that the court should not accept Bain’s request to clarify the matter, because it can only make decisions on laws already approved. The aim of the Scottish Government is independence and, according to him, Bain’s argument is incoherent. The court will announce his decision “in a few months.”
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