All that remains part 1 override
The Scottish Claim of Right was never extinguished by the Treaty of Union rather, the treaty was and remains conditional upon the continuance of the Claim of Right in Scotland. Hence, constitutionally, it is the Claim of Right whit maks us Scots unalik maist ither naitions! Our constitutional reality is therefore diametrically opposed to the English doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, the latter underpinning England’s constitution, but never Scotland’s. The ability to depose a monarch and/or remove an unwanted government remains arguably the central basis and purpose of the Claim of Right, vesting sovereignty firmly in the hands of the Scottish people themselves, rather than any shower of mankit elites in Westminster or Holyrood. It means, above all, that the Scots retain the right, even today, to remove a governing authority when it no longer functions in the interest of the Scottish people, this being the main purpose of the Convention of the Estates (the assemblies of the communities). And still necessary too, even in our supposedly more democratic times, when governments aye have a tendency to take forward legislation which all too often is intended to oppress the people rather than serve them, as Nelson Mandela once said. This is part of the ‘right’ referred to in the Claim of Right and enshrined in Scots law by the Act ‘salve jure cujuslibet’ of 1663, which allowed any Scot to challenge parliamentary legislation which infringed their civil liberties – and how refreshing is that kind of thinking even today, never mind the seventeenth century. This condition means that the Scottish people retain the right to prohibit government actions or legislation which compromise their civil rights and freedoms. This is because, as Sara Salyers explains, the Treaty itself is conditional on Scotland retaining its own distinctive constitution, contained and described in the Claim of Right Act of 1689. In this is evident the distinct, cultural uniqueness of Scotland’s constitutional reality amidst the imposition of an alien English constitutional principle, the latter unlawful and in clear violation of the Treaty of Union itself. The imposed sovereignty of a Westminster Parliament on Scotland’s people does not and never has corresponded with Scotland’s constitutional rights, namely, the rights conferred by the sovereignty of the people. The Claim of Right represents Scotland’s forgotten constitution, intentionally pushed out of sight and out of mind and hence denied us by our colonial oppressor, the latter including Scotland’s elites colonialism, as Frantz Fanon reminds us, is always a cooperative venture. Ignorance of Scotland’s constitutional reality really hits the high notes when we get to the Claim of Right. Scots are all too often left uncertain and confused when considering the critical matter of their sovereignty, and intentionally so for any colonial power will naturally seek to diminish the notion of native or national sovereignty that would inevitably interfere with a territory’s ongoing economic plunder and exploitation.
#All that remains part 1 override full#
EVERY DAY THIS WEEK THE FULL ARGUMENT AND EVIDENCE WILL FOLLOW. THE FOREWORD IS BY PROFESSOR ALF BAIRD AND THE INTRODUCTION FROM SARA SALYERS TO THE PAPER IS PUBLISHED TODAY.