An independent scotland’s written constitution: what you need to know — scottish national party

The Scottish Government has published the latest in its series of independence papers, setting out a blueprint for what an independent Scotland would look like to give people an informed

choice on Scotland’s future. It states that after independence, Scotland would move away from the UK constitutional system by adopting a written, codified constitution – enshrining and

enhancing the rights of all citizens. Click here to read the full document, or read on for a handy summary. Here’s all you need to know. ------------------------- THE UK IS AN OUTLIER IN NOT

HAVING A WRITTEN CONSTITUTION The UK is one of very few countries in the world that does not have a single, written document that could be called a constitution. Instead the UK has a series

of laws, conventions and precedents that form how the country works. At the heart of it is the idea of that the Westminster parliament is sovereign, requiring a simple majority to legislate

on any matter. What this means is that no matter how central any law is to society, like a publicly owned NHS, workers’ rights, or even devolution, a simple majority vote at Westminster

could change or overturn that law. > 🇬🇧 Because the UK hasn’t got a written constitution, the > only thing standing in the way of a Westminster Government > cancelling devolution 

would be… >  > 🗳️ ..a vote at Westminster. >  > 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 An independent Scotland could protect, > in law, the democratic rights of the people of Scotland. > 

pic.twitter.com/JmNZSkHCWb >  > — The SNP (@theSNP) June 19, 2023 WHY DOES SCOTLAND NEED A WRITTEN CONSTITUTION? A written constitution would help to ensure that Scotland is a more

democratic country. After independence, Scotland can have a modern, written constitution that reflects the values of the Scottish people – ensuring that the power of the Scottish state is

derived from the people. The rights of the people would be laid out in a clearly written and accessible document, and would not be able to be altered or stripped by a simple majority vote.

> 🇬🇧 The UK is an outlier as one of a very small number of > countries without a written constitution. >  > 🇪🇺 Every EU member state has one. >  > 👎 That matters because as

 it stands Westminster can remove people > of Scotland’s rights with a simple majority. > pic.twitter.com/RmuaOsYidR >  > — The SNP (@theSNP) June 19, 2023 WHAT ARE THE CLEAR

BENEFITS OF HAVING A WRITTEN CONSTITUTION FOR SCOTLAND? The Scottish Government’s paper sets out the benefits of having a written constitution, including: * PROVIDING A CLEAR FRAMEWORK FOR

GOVERNMENT – a written constitution would set out the powers of the different branches of government, ensuring that government is transparent and accountable. * PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF

PEOPLE IN SCOTLAND – a written constitution would enshrine the rights of people in Scotland, such as the right to free speech and the right to a fair trial. This would help to protect people

from the arbitrary exercise of power by the government. * HELPING TO ENSURE THAT SCOTLAND IS A MORE DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY – a written constitution would help to ensure that Scotland is a more

democratic country by clearly setting out the principles of democracy, such as the rule of law and the separation of powers. > 🇬🇧 The UK is the only country in Europe that does not have a

> written constitution. >  > 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 An independent Scotland would adopt a > written constitution to embed the NHS free at the point of need, and > enhance and protect 

people’s rights. >  > 📺 Watch @JamieHepburn explain our latest paper. > pic.twitter.com/k4IlSxIFhg >  > — The SNP (@theSNP) June 21, 2023 A WRITTEN SCOTTISH CONSTITUTION WILL

PROTECT THE NHS The Scottish Government paper specifically mentions the NHS as an institution that must be protected and maintained under Scotland’s new constitution. Under both the interim

and the permanent constitution, it states: ‘An independent Scotland could have a constitution that provides recognition of the NHS in Scotland, giving the right to access a system of health

care, available free at the point of use’. By enshrining the NHS in a written constitution, we can ensure for the current and the future generations that access to healthcare is free at the

point of need as a fundamental right in an independent Scotland. It also protects the NHS against being sold off to, for example, US healthcare companies in future trade deals, and protects

it against being dismantled and replaced by a for-profit based system. > With independence, we can build a better country with a written > constitution that embeds key rights, such as 

an NHS free at the > point of need, and the right to an adequate standard of living. >  > Read 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @ScotGov‘s latest ‘Building a > New Scotland’ paper at: 

https://t.co/VCHmHk1A3b > pic.twitter.com/bTLIMyvwvO >  > — Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) June 19, 2023 A WRITTEN SCOTTISH CONSTITUTION WILL PROTECT WORKERS’ RIGHTS The paper also

states that one of the features of an independent Scotland’s constitution would be the protection of workers’ rights, including the right to strike. The UK Tory government is passing laws

that attack workers’ rights and hamper the ability to strike, and following Brexit, Westminster has voted to rip up protections like holiday pay for part-time workers or the right to rest

breaks. In stark contrast, Scotland would seek to protect and enhance these rights in a constitution, including the right to join a union and to strike – which are included in over 90

constitutions around the world. > 🏥 Protect our NHS > 💪 Defend our right to strike > 🏡 Enshrine our right to good housing > ❌ Ensure Scotland no longer hosts nuclear weapons >

  > 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 An independent Scottish constitution > has the power to enhance and protect important rights that make a > difference to people’s lives. pic.twitter.com/qbB1brFyMf >

  > — The SNP (@theSNP) June 19, 2023 WHAT WOULD BE THE PROCESS OF ADOPTING A WRITTEN CONSTITUTION? On day one of becoming independent, the Scottish Government proposes an interim

constitution. An interim constitution would provide a stable transition between Scotland as a devolved nation under Westminster, and as a fully independent country. It would set out how

Scotland is governed in this transition period, and would keep some of the institutions that Scotland has now, such as the Scottish Parliament, the monarchy and conventions on human rights

that the UK is signed up to. After Scotland becomes independent, it would create a constitutional convention to draft the permanent constitution, consisting of representatives from across

Scottish civil society. The Constitutional Convention would then present their permanent constitution to the Scottish Parliament, which would then consider it and put it to the people of

Scotland to endorse it in a referendum. If approved in a referendum, it would become the permanent, written constitution for Scotland. > 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @scotgov has published a new paper > 

about a written constitution for an independent Scotland. >  > 📢 @HumzaYousaf: “With independence, we can build a better > country on that fundamental right of every person in 

Scotland to be > treated equally.” #ANewScotlandhttps://t.co/Nf5guorFLN >  > — The SNP (@theSNP) June 19, 2023 HOW WOULD PEOPLE IN SCOTLAND BE INVOLVED IN CREATING THE CONSTITUTION?

The citizens’ convention would be established to write the permanent constitution, in a collaborative process that consults with people across Scotland on what they think the constitution

should have in it. The process would ensure that a wide range of people, communities and organisations, including experts and representatives of different groups across society, are involved

in this shared national endeavour of creating a new constitution. > Independence would allow Scotland to create its own constitution. >  > First Minister @HumzaYousaf sets out the 

focus of our latest > #ANewScotland paper. >  > Discover more at https://t.co/W7tHsJt9yP pic.twitter.com/hheRo31z9d >  > — Scottish Government (@scotgov) June 19, 2023