National Self-Determination Bill 2023

A
BILL
TO

guarantee British Overseas Territories, Scotland and Wales the right to hold independence and transfer referenda.

BE IT ENACTED by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Section 1: Definitions

(1) “British overseas territory” has the same meaning as in the British Nationality Act 1981.

(2) “Independence referendum” shall mean a referendum where registered electors of the relevant territory may vote on whether or not to become governed independently.

(3) “Transfer referendum” shall mean a referendum where registered electors of the relevant territory may vote on whether or not to leave the United Kingdom and join another state which has officially indicated to HM Government that they would be willing to accept the territory.

CHAPTER 1: THE CALLING OF REFERENDA

Section 2: Independence and Transfer Referenda

(1) Citizens of a British overseas territory, Scotland, or Wales may present a petition to the Secretary of State to hold an independence or transfer referendum, which will be binding if:-

(a) the petition is signed by 20% of the registered electors of the relevant territory; and

(b) the signatures were collected within a 9-month period; and

(c) a previous unsuccessful referendum was not held within 10 years of the petition beginning to collect signatures.

Section 3: Assent of Devolved or Local Governments

(1) For the purposes of this section, an appropriate person is any of the following-

(a) The First Minister of the relevant territory,

(b) The Chief Minister of the relevant territory, or-

(c) The head of Government of the relevant territory

(2) Should none of the above be available or appropriate, the Secretary of State may designate as an “appropriate person” any person who is a part of the functioning of a devolved or local government in the relevant territory, so long as that person is reasonably able and appropriate to carry out any duties foreseeably arising from this act.

(3) A petition under Section 2 shall not be valid unless an appropriate person representing the relevant territory affirms to the Secretary of State that they support the aim of the petition.

Section 3: Entitlement to Vote

(1) Those entitled to vote in a referendum called under this act in Scotland or Wales are-

(a) the persons ordinarily resident in the territory in question who, on the date of the referendum, would be entitled to vote as electors at a parliamentary election in a constituency within that territory,

(b) the persons ordinarily resident in the territory in question who, on that date, are disqualified by reason of being peers from voting as electors at parliamentary elections but would be entitled to vote as electors at a local government election in any electoral area in Great Britain.

(2) Those entitled to vote in a referendum called under this act in a British Overseas Territory are the persons ordinarily resident in the territory in question who, on the date of the referendum, would be entitled to vote as electors at a general election within that territory,

CHAPTER 2: THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE

Section 4: Duties of the Secretary of State

(1) Upon the receipt of a valid petition under Section 2 of this Act, the following duties are created for the Secretary of State:

(a) the duty to move an order under this act so as to create a referendum of the type intended by the petition, within one calendar year of the date of receipt,

(b) the duty to produce and publish such regulations that are reasonably necessary and expedient to ensure the smooth, orderly and fair discharge of the referendum in question,

(c) to publish a report detailing the issue at question, and what efforts His Majesty’s Government will take to ensure that an orderly transition between the status quo and proposed constitutional change within the territory in question can occur

(d) to appoint whatever persons the Secretary of State deems reasonably necessary to discharge the functions of the referendum, and-

(e) to provide whatever funds are reasonably necessary to discharge the functions of the referendum.

(2) The Secretary of State may reimburse any reasonable costs incurred by Section (1)(e).

Section 5: The Powers of the Secretary of State

(1) The Secretary of State shall have the power to make regulations specified under Sections 6 and 7 of this act.

(2) The Secretary of State shall have the power to make such regulations as are reasonably required so as to fulfil a duty under Section 4 of this act.

(3) Regulations and Orders under this act shall be subject to the negative procedure.

Section 6: Referendum Orders

(1) The Secretary of State may make an order that a referendum to which this act applies is to be held in the territory in question, so long as they have received a valid petition.

(2) The Secretary of State must, by regulations, appoint the day on which the referendum is to be held.

(3) The Secretary of State shall have a duty to refer the question to appear of the ballot papers to the Electoral Commission, and must ensure that the wording they provide is that which appears on the ballot papers in question.

Section 7: Conduct Regulations

(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations—

(a) make provision about voting in the referendum and otherwise about the conduct of the referendum,

(b) apply for the purposes of the referendum any other enactment relating to elections or referendums, including provisions creating offences;

(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for and in connection with the combination of the poll for the referendum with any one or more of the following—

(a) the poll for any election specified in the regulations;

(b) the poll for any other referendum specified in the regulations.

(3) Regulations under this act may not change the date of either a referendum called under this act, or any electoral process to which subsection (2) applies.

(4) Before making any regulations under this section, the Secretary of State must consult the Electoral Commission.

Section 8: Short title, commencement, and extent

(1) This Act may be cited as the National Self-Determination Act 2023.

(2) This Act shall come into force immediately upon Royal Assent.

(3) This Act extends to England, Wales, Scotland, and the British Overseas Territories

(4) Nothing in this act shall be construed to have extent to Northern Ireland

This bill was written by The Rt. Hon. NicolasBroaddus MP, Leader of the Opposition, The Most Hon. Marquess of Belfast, the Rt. Hon. Dame SpectacularSalad KG OM GCMG KCB KBE CT PC MP MLA FRS, and The Rt. Hon. Sir mg95000, and was submitted on behalf of His Majesty’s 37th Official Opposition.

Appendix 1: Devolved or Local Governments

For the purposes of this act, the Devolved and Local Governments are:

The Scottish Government

The Welsh Government

The Government of Anguilla

The Government of Saint Helena

The Government of Bermuda

The Government of the British Virgin Islands

The Cayman Islands Government

The Government of Montserrat

The Falkland Islands Government

The Government of Gibraltar

The Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands

The Government of the Pitcairn Islands

The following individuals may be taken to be appropriate persons:

The Administrator of Tristan de Cunha

The Administrator of Ascension Island

The Secretary of State may by regulations amend this Appendix for the purposes of adding or removing Devolved or Local Governments, or appropriate persons where no recognised Government exists.

Deputy Speaker,

I must start by making clear that, while this coalition does not agree with the decision the Commons has made on the Direct Democracy Act, we have no choice but to abide by that decision. However, this puts us now in an even less clear constitutional position on a specific area in which referenda are the only viable and accepted method to be used: independence votes.

We have seen recently, outside of this simulation, the UK Supreme Court decision regarding the legal status of a Scottish independence referendum. While I am sure many here would wish to debate the grounds and arguments made in that particular judgement, that is not the intent of this bill. The intent of this bill is to guarantee the specific right explicitly, so as to prevent this sort of controversial court judgement subverting the will of the people in contravention of Article 15 of the UN Convention on Human Rights. To quote:

“(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.” To this end this bill will guarantee that right for Scotland, Wales, and the British Overseas Territories. Northern Ireland is specifically not included in this bill so as to remain in compliance with the Belfast Agreement, which supersedes the authority here as a pre-existing mutual agreement. The required signatures and time between possible referendums is based on the previous Brexit referendums and the Fixed Term Parliament Act, respectively.

To be clear on a more metagame angle, independence is still blocked unless it should come to be in real life. This may not apply to British Overseas Territories, given the actions taken regarding the establishment of New Chagos, but this is undoubtedly a less impactful aspect of MHOC remaining recognisable as a simulation of British politics. However, whether or not we can actually hold a referendum in game is irrelevant to the main point at hand: this is legally and morally the correct guarantee to make. The UK has been part of actions taken against other nations by the UN regarding Article 15, we are obliged to also honour its conditions.

This division will end on Friday 16th June at 10pm BST.