Section 1.1. We, the people of the free sovereign and inalienable nation of Scotland do hereby express and enact our collective will through this written Constitution.
Please scrutinise all the proposed amendments and replies before commenting or voting. Short comments are most often read and must not exceed 100 words. You can propose an Amendment at the bottom of this page - please read the guidelines .
Note that the original wording appears again first below and sustains the same comment & voting regime as all other amendment proposals.
Section 1.1. Section 1.1. We, the people of the free sovereign and inalienable nation of Scotland do hereby express and enact our collective will through this written Constitution.
Section 1.1. There's no mechanism on this site for comments on an article (or on the draft constitution) as a whole, so I'm going to put my general comments on this article under section 1. It seems to me that the article, which has a long and somewhat rambling title, would be clearer if split into several articles, each dealing with a specific aspect, namely: The nation of Scotland, The national territory, Citizenship, and Voting rights. I'm not convinced that residency and immigration are a matter for the constitution but, if they are, I don't think they belong here.
Section 1.1. I now comment specifically on section 1. This is a fine statement, but it could be simplified. "Hereby" and "through this written Constitution" repeat each other. "Written" is unnecessary, since the constitution is self-evidently written. "Free, sovereign and inalienable" are splendid words, but do not mean much in practice (especially "inalienable"). They could be omitted, or replaced simply by "independent". "Express and enact" is a phrase which smacks of impressive legalese, but do two verbs really add anything? I propose a simplified version below.
Section 1.1. We, the sovereign people of the free and inalienable nation ( I'm no expert in english but this way ensures there is no dubiety in whether it's the people or the country as a whole)
Section 1.1. I agree wholeheartedly with the suggestion to keep not only the opening article, but any and all statements as simple and as concise as possible. This will help all people and readers, from all backgrounds, better understand and follow the intent of the articles. Its also helps prevents stupid and meaningless phrases from being inadvertently included.
Section 1.1. Section 1.1. We, the people of the free sovereign and inalienable nation of Scotland do hereby express and enact our collective will through this written Constitution.
Section 1.1. (based on the already-improved text from CaledoniaIan above)
We, the people of the [independent] nation of Scotland, including its distinct constituent parts the Western Isles, Shetland Islands and Orkney Islands, express our collective will in this Constitution.
Article 1 assumes Scotland is constitutionally hetreogenous
Section 1.1. This is a criticism, not a proposed amendment, which I will attempt to post next due to wordlimit constraints. This article is exclusionary. Consider the UK constitutional situation, where anything other than the majority central state is an afterthought or ignored: not just Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories and others. This article ignores that Scotland the Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney have historical grounds for and some desires for autonomy. Evidence: The Lerwick Declaration ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lerwick_Declaration ) , the decision by Shetland in November 2020 (https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/shetland-votes-explore-ways-become-independent-scotland-2968110) and the existence of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udal_law . Article 1 should acknowledge at least the possibility of constitutional plurality in Scotland or it is falling into the same UK tarpit.
Section 1.1. PREAMBLE
(1) THE STATE AND THE PEOPLE
The Scottish state and the people’s government shall have the overriding purpose of upholding the rights set out in this Constitution and shall exercise its powers so that all citizens are enabled to realise their right to achieve their full potential and make as full a contribution as they are able to the common weal.
(2) THE PEOPLE AND THE STATE
All citizens shall have obligations to the state and the government, as well as the rights which are set out in this constitution
(3) THE PEOPLE
Every citizen shall also have obligations to all others and shall respect the rights of all their fellow citizens.
(4) SUBSIDIARITY
The people and government of Scotland shall adopt the principle of subsidiarity in the conduct our affairs.
Section 1.1. The subsidiarity principle is that all power and decision making is exercised at the lowest possible level and where the capacity to implement decisions is limited the matter is delegated upwards to the next level where resources and capacity are greater. Its implementation requires the central power to facilitate the provision of the necessary financial and other resources to the lower levels of power.
This piece in The National on 11/12/20 by Andy Wightman sets out some reasons why a principle of subsidiarity in the Preamble is important https://www.thenational.scot/comment/18936528.andy-wightman-devastating-centralisation-power-gives-scotland-one-choice/
Proposed Amendments to Section
Please scrutinise all the proposed amendments and replies before commenting or voting. Short comments are most often read and must not exceed 100 words.
You can propose an Amendment at the bottom of this page - please read the guidelines .
Note that the original wording appears again first below and sustains the same comment & voting regime as all other amendment proposals.
Original Version
Section 1.1. Section 1.1. We, the people of the free sovereign and inalienable nation of Scotland do hereby express and enact our collective will through this written Constitution.
Section 1.1. There's no mechanism on this site for comments on an article (or on the draft constitution) as a whole, so I'm going to put my general comments on this article under section 1. It seems to me that the article, which has a long and somewhat rambling title, would be clearer if split into several articles, each dealing with a specific aspect, namely: The nation of Scotland, The national territory, Citizenship, and Voting rights. I'm not convinced that residency and immigration are a matter for the constitution but, if they are, I don't think they belong here.
Section 1.1. I now comment specifically on section 1. This is a fine statement, but it could be simplified. "Hereby" and "through this written Constitution" repeat each other. "Written" is unnecessary, since the constitution is self-evidently written. "Free, sovereign and inalienable" are splendid words, but do not mean much in practice (especially "inalienable"). They could be omitted, or replaced simply by "independent". "Express and enact" is a phrase which smacks of impressive legalese, but do two verbs really add anything? I propose a simplified version below.
Proposed Amendment to Section 1.1.
Simplification
Section 1.1. We, the people of the [independent] nation of Scotland, express our collective will in this Constitution.
Proposed Amendment to Section 1.1.
Section 1.1 The people are sovereign
Section 1.1. We, the sovereign people of the free and inalienable nation ( I'm no expert in english but this way ensures there is no dubiety in whether it's the people or the country as a whole)
Proposed Amendment to Section 1.1.
Constitution - Keep it simple
Section 1.1. I agree wholeheartedly with the suggestion to keep not only the opening article, but any and all statements as simple and as concise as possible. This will help all people and readers, from all backgrounds, better understand and follow the intent of the articles. Its also helps prevents stupid and meaningless phrases from being inadvertently included.
Proposed Amendment to Section 1.1.
Section 1.1. Section 1.1. We, the people of the free sovereign and inalienable nation of Scotland do hereby express and enact our collective will through this written Constitution.
Proposed Amendment to Section 1.1.
Proposed alternative for Section 1.1
Section 1.1. (based on the already-improved text from CaledoniaIan above)
We, the people of the [independent] nation of Scotland, including its distinct constituent parts the Western Isles, Shetland Islands and Orkney Islands, express our collective will in this Constitution.
Proposed Amendment to Section 1.1.
Article 1 assumes Scotland is constitutionally hetreogenous
Section 1.1. This is a criticism, not a proposed amendment, which I will attempt to post next due to wordlimit constraints. This article is exclusionary. Consider the UK constitutional situation, where anything other than the majority central state is an afterthought or ignored: not just Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories and others. This article ignores that Scotland the Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney have historical grounds for and some desires for autonomy. Evidence: The Lerwick Declaration ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lerwick_Declaration ) , the decision by Shetland in November 2020 (https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/shetland-votes-explore-ways-become-independent-scotland-2968110) and the existence of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udal_law . Article 1 should acknowledge at least the possibility of constitutional plurality in Scotland or it is falling into the same UK tarpit.
Proposed Amendment to Section 1.1.
Preamble (or Article 1.1)
Section 1.1. PREAMBLE
(1) THE STATE AND THE PEOPLE
The Scottish state and the people’s government shall have the overriding purpose of upholding the rights set out in this Constitution and shall exercise its powers so that all citizens are enabled to realise their right to achieve their full potential and make as full a contribution as they are able to the common weal.
(2) THE PEOPLE AND THE STATE
All citizens shall have obligations to the state and the government, as well as the rights which are set out in this constitution
(3) THE PEOPLE
Every citizen shall also have obligations to all others and shall respect the rights of all their fellow citizens.
(4) SUBSIDIARITY
The people and government of Scotland shall adopt the principle of subsidiarity in the conduct our affairs.
Section 1.1. The subsidiarity principle is that all power and decision making is exercised at the lowest possible level and where the capacity to implement decisions is limited the matter is delegated upwards to the next level where resources and capacity are greater. Its implementation requires the central power to facilitate the provision of the necessary financial and other resources to the lower levels of power.
This piece in The National on 11/12/20 by Andy Wightman sets out some reasons why a principle of subsidiarity in the Preamble is important https://www.thenational.scot/comment/18936528.andy-wightman-devastating-centralisation-power-gives-scotland-one-choice/