The biggest question about Nicola Sturgeon’s plans to stage an independence referendum on Scotland's future are not why or when, but how?
The First Minister wants a vote by October 2023 and states that the SNP has a democratic mandate, backed by the Scottish Greens, to deliver one.
But whether she has the legal power to stage an independence referendum is open to question.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon independence speech LIVE as First Minister to lay out 'route map' to referendum
The UK Government has simply refused to pass on powers, under a Section 30 order, to stage a second legal referendum saying that the 2014 result was a decisive, 'once in a generation' vote.
That makes the legal path to a referendum, which Sturgeon said she is committed to, a difficult one.
Here are the five big legal obstacles to overcome if a vote is to go ahead on Sturgeon’s timetable:
Lord Advocate
Dorothy Bain, who was appointed in 2021, is the Scottish Government’s chief legal adviser.
She will have to advise the government on whether proposing a referendum bill is possible.
The government’s legal advice is usually privileged but Nicola Sturgeon is under pressure to publish it.
Presiding Officer
Alison Johnstone will have to rule on the competence of any bill presented to the parliament.
The Presiding Officer takes independent legal advice on the issue. In the past In the past, Johnstone’s predecessors greenlit provisions on Brexit, for example, which were later found to be outside Holyrood's competence by the courts.
Scottish Parliament
A referendum bill would have to be passed into law but with the coalition between the Greens and the SNP providing a pro-independence majority, and the democratic mandate that trumps legal arguments, Sturgeon would argue.
Political objections from opposition parties should not be a major problem.
UK Government
The constitution is reserved to the UK government and powers to hold an independence referendum are granted through a Section 30 order which Boris Johnson has steadfastly refused.
The Scottish parliament can hold a referendum on a devolved matter but if it passes a law to stage an independence vote the Westminster government is obliged to challenge its competence. Other interested parties could launch a legal challenge too but the argument will quickly end up in the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court
The final court of appeal in the United Kingdom for cases public or constitutional importance.
Sited across Parliament Square from the House of Commons a panel of judges from across the UK would hear the legal arguments for and against the Scottish parliament’s competence to stage a referendum.
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