Sionaidh Douglas-Scott, Anniversary Chair in Law at Queen Mary University and former Professor of European and Human Rights Law at Oxford has argued that the UK Government is undermining democracy and the law by its “unreasonable and immoral” ignoring of the SNP Government's mandate for an independence referendum.
She has published the following five arguments against the UK Government’s conduct in refusing to negotiate with Scotland on independence:
• The Union between Scotland and England is voluntary, and Scotland’s consent to this Union in 1707 is ongoing and may be withdrawn
• Self-determination is a fundamental right, protected in both the UN Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
• The principle of democracy sustains the legitimacy of elected governments and necessitates that their mandates be taken seriously and are not overridden
• The previous ‘No’ vote is invalidated by the change of circumstances that is the 2016 Brexit referendum, as in 2014, the UK Government strongly argued that Scotland could only protect its EU membership by remaining in the UK
• The UK is required to act in good faith with Scotland on the question of independence, a principle again observed in many areas of law, both explicitly and impliedly
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