Political rights of citizens, constitution making, Scots independence

[mm at iniref.org]

COMMENT to The Scotsman newspaper, 30th June 2014
Beg to report legal, constitutional flaws 
<http://www.scotsman.com/news/beg-to-report-legal-constitutional-flaws-1-3460546>


M. Sheridan writes, "the constitution specifies that, in Scotland, the 
people are sovereign. However, there is no mechanism for people in 
Scotland to exercise sovereignty and it is clear from other terms that 
sovereignty lies with the Scottish Parliament."
Hoots comments 2:00 AM on 30/06/2014
"If the people of an independent Scotland were actually going to be 
sovereign, we would need some mechanism for triggering referenda, like 
they have in Switzerland"


Because of our special interest in citizens' political rights (also 
known as "sovereignty") we have cast an eye on the relevant sections in 
numerous constitutions of state. It's clear that we citizens must take 
great care to avoid being tricked out of our rights.


There is a very good case for the opinion that, as citizens of the UK, 
we already have the rights to instigate referendum in addition to 
electing politicians. Several decades ago Parliament ratified an 
international convention (civil and political rights) which appears to 
guarantee these rights (1). However, politicians and their backers are 
opposed to stronger citizens' democracy, so the means to "trigger" 
referendum has been denied to us.


I will rapidly give two example. The first shows "HOW NOT" to guarantee 
citizens' sovereignty, the second show how to do this properly and  
effectively.


One of the most "advanced" constitutions (Basic Law) is that of post 
WWII Germany. Article 20 reads, "All power in the state arises from the 
people. This power shall be applied in elections and referenda". The 
federal parliament has made laws to regulate the conduct of elections to 
parliament. BUT successive governments, during more than 60 years, have 
avoided or failed to provide a legal framework for the citizens' 
referendum. The message for supporters of strong democracy: Make sure 
that the right to make public proposals and to instigate referendum is 
clearly laid down in the constitution of state, in such away that these 
rights can readily be used ("user friendly rules" are essential).


The second case shows how a constitution CAN guarantee practical 
citizens' rights to direct democracy (also to representative, indirect 
democracy). This is the constitution of Switzerland. Here, there is a 
guarantee similar to the international convention mentioned above (1) 
AND in addition the methods of democracy are spelled out and can be used 
without further acts or interference by politicians. These are 
fundamental rights which can be changed only by the PEOPLE themselves in 
a referendum. The section about citizens' POLITICAL RIGHTS reads as follows:
Art. 136 Political Rights
2  Citizens (using direct democracy) can both instigate and endorse 
(sign) citizens' initiatives (law proposals) and (legally binding) 
referendum ballots. Citizens can take part in elections of Members of 
Parliament.
Chapter: Initiative and Referendum
Art. 138 Citizens' Initiative for change to constitution
A hundred thousand citizens can instigate a binding referendum by 
endorsing an initiative-proposal within 18 months of its publication.
Art. 141 Veto Referendum
Fifty thousand citizens (within a defined time period) can demand that a 
government law or proposal must be put before the whole electorate for 
decision in a ballot.


We plan to publish a guide to direct democracy, sovereignty and 
constitution at the web site iniref dot org, section "latest". We are 
pleased to answer queries via info at iniref.org


Regards,
Michael Macpherson (Dr.)


1. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Adopted by the 
General Assembly of the United Nations on 19 December 1966 (Article 25)




forwarded by:
Campaign for direct democracy in Britain
Citizens' Initiative and Referendum I&R ~ GB
http://www.iniref.org/








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