“‘The devolution of power to the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales has removed both legal and political power from London.’ Evaluate this statement.”

Devolution defined in 1973 by the Royal Commission on the Constitution as the delegation of central government powers without the relinquishment of sovereignty. There has been a dispersion of opinions that whether Westminster in London has had its legal and political sovereignty relinquishd since the devolution of powers to Scotland and Wales in 1998. This essay will provide a glance of the historical background of the birth of the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly. It will be necessary to acquire an understanding of the political reasons for devolution in order to address the question addressed. It will then examine the content of the Scotland Act 1998 and the Government of Wales Act 1998, and accordingly their legal effect, scope and limit. Finally, political reality will be discussed and this will lead to the conclusion that devolution indeed shrinks both the powers …(short extract)