On 28 June 2022, the Scottish First Minister announced that the Lord Advocate had made a reference to the UK Supreme Court on whether a Bill for a consultative referendum on Scottish independence would fall within the Scottish Parliament’s legislative competence. Although there has already been much discussion on the issue of legislative competence (see here, here and here), this post argues that consultative referendums have a broader constitutional significance that might impact both the determination of competence and the steps that will follow the court’s ruling.
Consultative and determinative referendums
Consultative referendums do not have direct legal consequences. Notable examples in the UK include the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence and the 2016 Brexit referendum. In both cases, the enabling statute for the referendum was silent as to the consequences of the result. Consultative referendums are contrasted with binding or ‘determinative’ referendums (asTierneyterms them) in which…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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