Why Not Scotland The sourced case for Scottish independence

Education, culture and justice

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The case for independence

  • The Scottish Government proposes making free university tuition part of a permanent constitution.3
  • It proposes a new Scottish public service broadcaster.2
  • It says re-joining the EU would restore access to tools such as the European Arrest Warrant.4

How it works now

School and university education, policing, courts and most criminal and civil law are devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

The challenges

  • We have not yet found a published, verifiable criticism on this topic. If you know of one, please tell us so we can include it.

How Scotland would meet them

  • Culture: a new Scottish public service broadcaster. Alongside the paper, the First Minister committed to at least £100 million more a year for culture and the arts by 2028/29.2
  • Education: make free university tuition part of a permanent constitution, and re-join EU exchange programmes such as Erasmus+.3
  • Justice: restore access to tools such as the European Arrest Warrant after re-joining the EU, and take a public health approach to drug policy reform.4

Source: Scottish Government releases on Papers 10, 12 and 13

Still to be settled

What would change in practice for schools, universities and courts?

This has not been settled, and we have not yet found reliable published analysis. We will add sourced material when it becomes available.

Sources

  1. Scottish Government, Building a New Scotland papers: downloadable versions.
  2. Scottish Government, Culture in an independent Scotland (news release on Paper 10), 2 February 2024.
  3. Scottish Government, Enhanced opportunities for people of all ages (news release on Paper 12), 25 March 2024.
  4. Scottish Government, Justice in an independent Scotland (news release on Paper 13), 25 April 2024.