On 28 June 2022, Scotland's First Minister - (Nicola Sturgeon MSP) - made a statement to the Scottish Parliament setting out plans for s further referendum on Scottish Independence to be held in October 2023. See the Scottish Parliament's Official Report (parliament.scot)
The referendum held in 2014 resulted in a vote against independence - Scottish independence referendum: final results in full | Scottish independence | The Guardian
Mrs Sturgeon told the Parliament that -"It is axiomatic that a referendum must be lawful, but
my deliberations in recent times have led me to this further conclusion: the lawfulness or otherwise of the referendum must be established as a matter of fact and not just opinion. Otherwise, as we have seen again in recent days, Opposition parties will just keep casting doubt on the legitimacy of the process so that they can avoid the substantive debate on independence that Scotland deserves but that they so clearly fear. That is not in the country’s best interests."How then will the lawfulness or otherwise of a referendum be established?
One way is that, as was done in 2014, the UK government makes a so-called Section 30 Order - see Scottish Devolution: Section 30 Orders - House of Commons Library (parliament.uk). At present, it appears that the UK government is unlikely to accede to a request for such an order.
Beyond that, the question of whether holding an independence referendum is within the powers of the Scottish Parliament would have to be ruled upon by the Supreme Court of the UK and the Scotland Act 1998 makes provision for such "devolution questions" to be referred to that Court. The process is discussed in detail in the following articles -
UK court to decide UK future - by Joshua Rozenberg (substack.com)
Will Scotland hold an independence referendum in October 2023? – Constitutional Law Matters
The indyref2 questions facing the Supreme Court - BBC News
On 28 June, the Supreme Court confirmed that Scotland's Lord Advocate had made a reference to the court - Reference by the Lord Advocate to the Supreme Court - The Supreme Court. The reference is under paragraph 34 of Schedule 6 to the Scotland Act 1998
WATCH: Pathways to an independence referendum | Centre on Constitutional Change
29 June 2022
Updates:
Scottish referendum moves ‘premature’, says UK government | Scottish independence | The Guardian
and the Lord Advocate's case - Lord Advocate’s Written Case: whether the question for a referendum on Scottish Independence contained in the proposed referendum Bill relates to reserved matters - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
Application by SNP to intervene - Microsoft Word - Scottish National Party - Application for Permission to Intervene.docx
Scottish independence referendum: role of the Supreme Court (parliament.uk)
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