Talk:Scottish Assembly

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[edit] NPOV

I do not think the last paragraph is NPOV as it presumes that a regional or devolved parliamnent cannot be rightly called as such and that the only definition of a parliament is parliamentry sovreignty - in most countries Parliament is subject to the Constitution not the other way round. Davidkinnen 14:26, 22 October 2005 (UTC)

I agree and have tagged the section as disputed and unreferenced. While it is certainly accurate to say that the Scottish Parliament is a devolved body which could have its legal basis altered or withdrawn by the sovereign UK Parliament in Westminster, it doesn't necessarily follow that it isn't a real parliament: only that it does not possess parliamentary sovereignty. There are important differences between the Scottish Parliament and the UK's other devolved legislatures, reflected in the use of the word "Parliament" where the others are called "Assembly". The Scottish Parliament can make primary legislation, and the Scotland Act 1998 grants to it all powers not explicitly listed as being reserved to Westminster. The Welsh Assembly, by contrast, has a list of powers explicitly granted to it, and everything else is reserved to Westminster. I dispute the statement in the article that the Scottish Parliament "does not fit the definition of a Parliament", because I think a definition of that term that requires parliamentary sovereignty is inaccurate, and I dispute the assertion that the Scottish Parliament is no different from an assembly, because there are important differences in its constitutional status from the Welsh and Northern Irish bodies. 86.136.94.95 02:57, 23 August 2006 (UTC)