Was the Constitution Democratic?

Would the UK Parliament have to pass the constitution of an independent Scotland and/or set up the framework for a new constitution to be written?

• Before South Africa transitioned to democratic rule in 1994, the old (apartheid) Parliament passed an interim constitution in 1993, based on negotiated text, that was valid from 1994 to 1996, when the final constitution was adopted by a democratic parliament (sitting as the Constitutional Assembly) using the framework outlined in the 1993 constitution. Would a similar scenario happen in the case of Scottish independence, or it more like likely that the constitution-making power would be delegated to existing Scottish Parliament from the beginning, which would then set the agenda for the constitution-writing process?

• Answer:

  You would want to delegate it directly to the existing Scottish Parliament, since it has the legitimacy to do the job. The UK has no tradition of constitutional change requiring more than parliamentary approval, and this would be in line with that. Relying on the Westminster parliament to pass a Scottish constitution would create  problem if it failed to do so - had the referendum passes, the UK would be committed to an independent Scotland, but it parliament refused to pass a constitution it might have been impossible to fulfil that promise.