Alternative Pathways to an Independence Referendum – Some Reflections Based on the Experience of Catalonia
DOI | 10.3366/elr.2021.0680 |
Published date | 01 January 2021 |
Date | 01 January 2021 |
Pages | 125-130 |
Author |
Despite the current focus on the responses to the COVID pandemic and the constitutional developments surrounding the Brexit process, the issue of Scottish independence remains very much at the forefront of the Scottish political and constitutional debate. As is well known, the Scottish Parliament has enacted the Referendums (Scotland) Act 2020, which sets out the legal framework for a second independence referendum to take place, and the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has promised an Independence Referendum Bill before the end of the current Parliamentary session.
These recent proposals present many similarities with the process that led to Catalonia's controversial referendum in 2017. This piece will therefore provide some reflections on the use of alternative pathways to hold an independence referendum based on the recent experience of Catalonia.
The search for alternative legal avenues to hold an independence referendum without the agreement of the central authorities inevitably leads to legalisation of the conflict, and as a consequence, to the involvement of the courts. In the case of Scotland, the proposals and initiatives in this sense have so far been pre-emptive; in the case of Catalonia, the challenges came from the central authorities.
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