1. The People are Sovereign and Enfranchised. [1318,1320,1357,1429,1445, 1557, 1587,1689]
2. The people acting jointly cannot be guilty of treason. [1436-1689]
3. All men and women are equal. [1320]
4. Freedom of Religion. [1320]
5. No taxation without representation. [1424]
6. Scotland’s borders are enshrined and entrenched. [1328]
7. The Court of Session is the supreme civil authority in the land. [1532, 1689]
8. All honest People of the community of the realm have the right to speak for it under the protection of Parliament [1320-1436]
9. Rule from England is prohibited. [1320]
10. The official language of Scotland is Scots. [1424]
11. Any person to be found to be considering English (Foreign) rule is not to be considered “honest”. [1320]
12. Scotland and Scots will forever be free. [1320]
13. The right of regal Succession is vested in the honest people. [1320, 1357,1689]
14. Establishes when a monarch may be replaced. [1320, 1689?]
15. Parliaments [of the Estates] are empowered to act for the People within these Parameters. . [Multiple convention and Act]
[Denotes the year of Proclamation, Declaration or Act]
How was this constitution derived, and from what authority is the first question to be asked, as the base tenants of this Constitution appear neither widely known nor commonly taught. It would be open to amendment or addition by the will of the Scots People without doubt, but current research states the above is, in fundamental aspect, the Constitution of the Scots Nation.
How this Constitution was derived is a fair and reasonable question, and as there appears to be substantial confusion in the area, which is evidenced by efforts as disparate as those of the SNP on its website to propose a constitution, posted in the middle of the first decade of the twenty first century, to this papers and groups which diametrically oppose concept of the Community of the Realm. This opposing group would include the acts of individuals to dispel the existence of such a Constitution in entities such as “web forums” as well as individuals and groups which proceed to make attempt to draft such Scots constitutions as recently as February of 2011. All apparently are lacking legitimate authority to draft or amend this basic constitution. In the present day, lacking the existence of the old Parliament of the Estates it would be conceivable to add or amend these articles in one of two ways, firstly by uncovering other compatible articles in Scots statute or proving voidance of these articles by constitutionally appropriate revocation of right before 1707. Lacking either of these first methods of due process it would appear in the modern day that a referendum of the Scots people would be required, and absent indications (not found to date) to the contrary a simple majority would suffice for an alteration. Articles 1, 3, 4 and 11 appear particularly fundamental and inviolate. There are other articles which are open to inclusion, such as no standing army in times of peace [circa 1682], however the above appear the most salient and fundamental.
This document purports to show, without qualification or intent of ambiguity, that the above Constitution, open to supplemental amendment or re-ordering, was developed and derived from the Authority vested in the Royal and Ancient Community and Realm of Scotland and specifically contains only such proclamations, declarations or acts as made by it, either directly or by incorporation within its proclamations, declarations or acts, and of which there is no evidence [to date] uncovered of these Acts, Proclamations or Declarations having been constitutionally repealed or set aside.
The first question to examine, what is a constitution, then we must seek to examine if the stipulations of constitution can be adequately fulfilled and if they (as they apply to Scotland) have any precedent or antecedent which can be cited in national or international law. Based upon these reasonable questions we can factually derive that, In so far as current research has been able to determine, Scotland unquestionably has a Constitution, it is simple, written (Codified) and clear as extracted above – it has not been amended in any significant way since inception of the various sub-components or articles (unless our research uncovered items where specific clauses were legitimately struck out, in which case the article is so noted, or simply omitted). We do acknowledge there may be aspects or articles unavailable to the researchers at this time which could add to, or amend specific portions of the above constitution.
The first item to be considered therefore is simple – what is a Constitution?
A Constitution is defined as, by wordiq.com, and others in better fashion than these researchers can:
“Semantics of the word constitution: unwritten constitution, no constitution?
Strictly, the term unwritten constitution refers to a constitution where none of the sources of the constitution are written down. Such a constitution would obviously be very difficult to interpret. However, the term is sometimes used incorrectly when referring to an uncodified constitution. For example, the relationship between the different branches of government and the relationship between the government and citizen (the governed) may be unwritten or only partially written down and therefore unclear.
To say a country has no constitution is a common mistake sometimes made when referring to a country that has an uncodified constitution. Every country with a government must have some form of constitution; there must be conventions or documents that attempt to define how the country is governed.”
And from the Merriam-Webster dictionary
“a : the basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determine the powers and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the people in i.t
b : a written instrument embodying the rules of a political or social organization”
Therefore each and every Nation must have a constitution, irrespective of codified, un-codified, oral, guaranteed, enforced or obscured by events or design. Scotland therefore had and has a constitution, it simply requires extraction by examination of proclamations, declaration and laws made through the ages. Then it, or any article thereof, may have enforcement required by Law.
This categorically and indisputably means that Scotland, like all nations, since her inception as a nation, continues to have a constitution, and that any act or law pertaining to the Nation was either performed in agreement with the Constitution (Constitutional and Lawful) or in opposition to the Constitution (unconstitutional and unlawful), and to examine cases where the constitution may have been legitimately amended to permit new acts to be lawful that would otherwise not be permitted.
That it [the Constitution of Scotland] was largely an oral and flexible constitution which varied with the current incumbent of the throne during her first centuries of current recognized Nationhood is somewhat outside the current remit of this article, with the vast quantity of documents originating between the mid 800’s through the early 14th century being lost to us through the combined ravages of time and Wars of Independence. In effect Scotland rose back to prominence and modest influence on the world stage as a result of the culmination of the first War of Independence, effectively ending in June 1314, though not actually ratified in law as over until the treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in 1328.
Utilizing 1314 as a “starting point” there were several Parliaments by the King of the day, Robert I, between 1314 in the aftermath of the battle of Bannockburn and 1328 (Dec), however we’ve only focused on those, and successive parliaments over the centuries that may be germane to this discussion, or cases where documents of constitutional note are produced. If an update law obsolete an earlier version, then when it appears Constitutional (ie – the earlier was amended or struck to permit the latter) we have referenced the latter statute, proclamation or declaration.
It is notable that much of the base constitutional awareness as presented here stems from parliaments of Robert I, and the Declaration of Arbroath. Much of this Declaration was codified through the remainder of Bruces’ reign, it remains recognized as the founding document of the Sovereignty of the Scottish People, and neither it, nor sections of it, appear to have ever been amended to alter the base founding principles of modern nationhood contained therein. It is interesting to observe some historians make attempt to interpret this document as “Royal Propaganda” and that which was written was not that which was meant, however this is given very clear refute by the interaction between King/Nobles/Parliament/People over the subsequent centuries, as detailed below.
It should also be considered if it is a valid stand alone constitutional document in its own right [Declaration of Arbroath, 1320], and if it has any peer documents in international law or historical context. The researchers quickly uncover both in the founding document of the United States Constitution, more commonly known as the “Declaration of Independence” in which sovereignty also initially resides with the individual citizen as denoted by it’s opening “We – The People”. It a reasonable consideration therefore that if either document has validity, both do, each lending itself directly in support of the other. It may also be unique in the annals of history that over so many disparate centuries and such a divide of distance that both documents are children born of a need and desire to enshrine the rights of the individual and the nation which is struggling for its freedom against the same aggressor country.
Acts or pronunciation years are denoted XXXX. Below is an expanded version of the articles above, with a plain English lay interpretation of the applicable portion of statute, proclamation or declaration.
1. The People are Sovereign, not the King or Parliament. 1318 Parliament it established the following: It was declared (codified) that every person of the community of the realm with the net worth of one cow shall lend arms to the defense of the Realm [This appears a critical departure from feudal norm, as the individuals were not to provide armed service to a noble or king, but to the Realm, irrespective of who lead the Realm or issued the call on behalf of the Realm. Furthermore by inference it codifies a person of worth and value who could/shall contribute to the Realm as anyone having the value of one cow, effectively it can be interpreted absent clarification of the day as enfranchisement to that level]. 1320, “we should exert ourselves at once to drive him out as our enemy and a subverter of his own rights and ours, and make some other man who was well able to defend us our King”. : “..and the whole community of the realm of Scotland..” 1357 – The first surviving record in Scotland using the term “Three Estates”, which referred to the three groups that made up the Parliament, the clergy (churchmen), nobility and the burgh (town) commissioners [to make up a balanced Parliament on behalf of the Community and Realm], 1429 Theoretically any tenant-in-chief was permitted to attend [Parliament], providing the potential for a far wider and less crown-controlled attendance than a system of shire representatives, 1445 King James II was required to swear an oath not to alter legislation (laws) without Parliament’s (the peoples) consent. The 1445 oaths reflected the perception among many members of the three estates of the de jure authority over the crown that was invested in them when assembled in parliament. 1557, Three become four Parliament passed an act regulating the attendance by commissioners from the shires (rural areas). Although they had attended Parliament in some numbers in the past, their presence was not made official until this act, which allowed each shire to elect two representatives. 1689, Parliament issued a declaration stating its right to remove any monarch who violated the law and threatened parliamentary/civil liberties.
2. It confirms the people acting jointly cannot be guilty of treason to the crown. 1436 Sir Robert Graham, speaker of the Estates, attempted to arrest James I ‘in the name of all the Three Estates of your realm’, but received no support from the Parliament. Graham was put in prison, but was released and later took part in the murder of the king at Perth on 21st February 1437. [It is Indicative that any single enfranchised person in Scotland could bring charges against the King – again signifying the sovereignty of the individual as against the sovereignty of the Monarch] – et al, 1436-1689
3. All men and women are equal – irrespective of nationality. 1320 “there is neither weighing nor distinction of… Scotsman or Englishman”
4. Freedom of Religion. 1320 “there is neither weighing nor distinction of Jew and Greek”
5. NO taxation without representation.- 1424 [-1490 et al] Between 1424 and 1496 parliament played a much more prominent role in political affairs, exerting sustained and substantial influence over the Stewart monarchs. This power was based on the reduced military threat from England and the decentralised nature of the Scottish kingdom. No king could force his subjects to pay a tax, or enforce a law, or go to war, without the genuine consent of a cross-section of society (and especially the leading lay and ecclesiastical magnates)
6. Scotland’s borders are enshrined and entrenched in the Constitution 1328 Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton - Recognized by England: Scots’ sovereignty, with her borders set as in Alexander’s (III) time, this was re-affirmed at later dates.
7. It confirms the Court of Session as the supreme civil authority in the land 1532, 1689 Founding of the Court of Session in 1532 by James V, concurrence by Parliament. Parliament then passed an act setting up the Court of Session, the supreme civil court in Scotland, for the “universal well-being” of everyone. This was a major step forward towards a fully developed and modern legal system, the rights of the Court of Session were amended in 1689 to permit appeal of sentence to the monarch.
8. All honest men and women of the community of the realm are entitled to speak to or on behalf of the realm. 1320-1436 – 1320:”…Eustace Maxwell, William Ramsay, William Mowat, Alan Murray, Donald Campbell, John Cameron, Reginald Cheyne, Alexander Seton, Andrew Leslie, and Alexander Straiton, and the other barons and freeholders and the whole community of the realm of Scotland..” “which no honest man gives up but with life itself [potential to argue that the honest man quotation is inappropriate, however to this day, by custom and standing prisoners in Scotland have no right to vote and thereby “no voice” in the affairs of the realm.]. 1436 Sir Robert Graham, speaker of the Estates, attempted to arrest James I ‘in the name of all the Three Estates of your realm’, but received no support from the Parliament. Graham was put in prison, but was released and later took part in the murder of the king at Perth on 21st February 1437. [It is Indicative that any single enfranchised person in Scotland could bring charges against the King – again signifying the sovereignty of the individual as against the sovereignty of the Monarch].
9. It definitively outlaws rule from England 1320 “Yet if he should give up what he has begun, and agree to make us or our kingdom subject to the King of England or the English, we should exert ourselves at once to drive him out as our enemy and a subverter of his own rights and ours…… never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule”
10. The official language of Scotland [government and law] is Scots. 1424 Acts of parliament from the reign of James I, written in Scots rather than Latin. Before this date, most of the surviving documents are written in Latin, which was the language of official documents at the time. King James I, however, began to keep his parliamentary records in Scots, a language that most people could understand.
11. Any person to be found to be considering English (Foreign) rule is not to be considered “honest”. 1320 “. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”
12. Scotland will forever be a free nation 1320 “for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule”
13. The right of regal Succession is vested in the honest people of the Realm. [This is continued today whereby prisoners do not get to vote]. [Noting the term “Honest” in inserted as it has never been statutorily or constitutionally removed as a prerequisite for voice, nor has it been farther defined in so far as the researchers could uncover] 1320, “we [The people, defined as the Community and Realm of Scotland] should exert ourselves at once to drive him out as our enemy and a subverter of his own rights and ours, and make some other man who was well able to defend us our King” 1445, King James II was required to swear an oath not to alter legislation (laws) without Parliament’s [the Community of the Realm] consent 1689 After voting to remove King James VII, Parliament issued a declaration stating its right to remove any monarch who violated the law and threatened liberties.
14. It establishes the circumstances under which a monarch may be replaced [There is question if 1689 was Constitutional]. 1320 “Yet if he should give up what he has begun, and agree to make us or our kingdom subject to the King of England or the English, we should exert ourselves at once to drive him out as our enemy. 1346 Under the policy of an English succession favoured by David II after 1346 –In opposing David’s plans, the Steward and the estates turned to the rhetoric used in Robert I’s reign of threatening to select another king if he went against their wishes
15. Parliaments [of the Estates] are empowered to act for the People within these Parameters (Various & multiple).
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