Devolution in the UK: Constitutional Law and Constitutional Convention

I recently wrote a short contribution to an edited collection on the implications of the Scottish independence referendum. The abstract is as follows:

In this contribution, I address the proposals in the Scotland Bill to make the Scottish devolved institutions permanent and to place the Sewel Convention, regulating the exercise of the UK Parliament’s legislative authority in respect of Scottish devolved matters, on a statutory footing. In considering the constitutional implications of those matters, I present two contrasting readings premised respectively upon legal and political modes of constitutionalism, arguing that the contemporary reality of devolution in the UK cannot properly be understood unless viewed through both legal and political lenses.

My paper will be published in due course in Alessandro Torre (ed), Il Regno è ancora Unito? La Scozia tra indipendenza e devolution [Is the Kingdom Still United? Scotland between Independence and Devolution] (Maggioli, Italy, 2015), which forms part of the series Nuovi studi di diritto pubblico estero e comparato [New Studies in Foreign and Comparative Public Law]. In the meantime, a near-final draft of my contribution can be found on SSRN.