Devolution in the United Kingdom: Constitutional Law and Constitutional Convention

Abstract

In this short contribution to an edited collection on devolution in the United Kingdom, 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.

Keywords: devolution, parliamentary sovereignty, legal constitutionalism, political constitutionalism

JEL Classification: K00, K10, K19, K20, K29, K30