Public Law Declarators, the Jurisdiction of the Court, and Scottish Independence: Keatings v Advocate General

In Keatings v Advocate General, the pursuer sought to appeal the decision of the Lord Ordinary (Lady Carmichael) to dismiss his action of declarator. The pursuer sought two declarators confirming that it was within the competence of the Scottish Parliament to legislate unilaterally for an independence referendum, and that no provision of the Scottish Government's proposed legislation on the matter fell outside of that competence. The Lord Ordinary had refused to make these declarators on the grounds that they were “hypothetical, academic and premature”.