London has put up a major obstacle to Scotland over its independence bid, saying Scots have to renegotiate some 14,000 international treaties, including their EU and UN memberships, if they vote for independence in the 2014 referendum.
The British government said they have sought legal advice from Professor James Crawford of Cambridge University and Professor Alan Boyle of Edinburgh University on Scotland’s independence and the two said that a breakaway Scotland will be a “new state” under international law and, as such, has to renegotiate the treaties in a lengthy process.
The legal advice on the constitutional implications of a yes vote to Scottish independence in 2014, apparently intends to increase pressure on the Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond as governments rarely publish such legal opinions.
Salmond set out plans to declare independence in March 2016 in the event of a vote in autumn 2014 in favor of separation a few days ago.
However, Scottish Secretary in the British cabinet Michael Moore said after the news on the advice that it is a “serious reality check” to Salmond’s claims that Edinburgh can negotiate Scotland’s EU membership within the union and in parallel with its independence talks with London.
In response, the Scottish government has also announced it will shortly publish its own legal advice, written partly by Nobel Prize winner for economics Joseph Stiglitz, that supports Edinburgh’s position.
AMR/HE
