Charter incorporation in Scotland to the rescue of central-local relations?

In a century of writing about local government in the United Kingdom, an inevitably dominant theme has been the analysis of central-local relations - defining the measure of control by central ministers and departments over local authorities and the degree of autonomy nevertheless retained by the local authorities. On the whole the story (including that covering the years of devolution) has been one of increasing central control and declining autonomy. In more recent times, the United Kingdom has signed and ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government of 1985. Even more recently, steps have been commenced in the Scottish Parliament to «incorporate» the Charter into the domestic law of Scotland. This article considers what effect on central-local relations the incorporation of the Charter might have

Venue Shift Following Devolution: When Reserved Meets Devolved in Scotland

This article examines the means used to address blurred or shifting boundaries between reserved UK and devolved Scottish policy. It outlines the main issues of multi-level governance and intergovernmental relations in Scotland and the initial problems faced in identifying responsibility for policy action. While it suggests that legislative ambiguities are now mainly resolved with the use of ‘Sewel motions', it highlights cases of Scottish action in reserved areas, including the example of smoking policy in which the Scottish Executive appears to ‘commandeer' a previously reserved issue. However, most examples of new Scottish influence suggest the need for UK support or minimal UK interest

Greater than the sum of its parts: the growing impact of devolution on the processes of constitutional reform in the United Kingdom

This article is the revised text of a lecture given at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies on December 8, 2008, under the chairmanship of Lord Hope of Craighead and as the firts in a series on "What's Happening in Scotland?" Article by Chris Himsworth, Professor of Administrative Law at the University of Edinburgh, published in Amicus Curiae - Journal of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London