IndyRef2 court case

On 28 June 2022, Sturgeon announced her government's intention for Dorothy Bain, the Lord Advocate, to ask the UK Supreme Court to rule on the legality of holding an independence referendum without agreement from Westminster. Should the court refuse to rule, or deem that a referendum would not be legal, Sturgeon said that if the UK government withheld its approval, the next UK general election would be a "de facto independence referendum" and Scotland could become independent if a majority of voters voted for pro-independence parties. In her subsequent reference to the Supreme Court for a ruling, the Lord Advocate, who is the Scottish Government's chief legal adviser, stated that she did "not have the necessary degree of confidence" that the Scottish government had the "devolved competence" to pass legislation associated with a referendum.

In July 2022, the UK government confirmed that its Scots Law Officer, the Advocate General, would become a formal party to the case and would urge the Supreme Court to dismiss the request for a ruling and argue that the Scottish Parliament does not have the necessary powers to legislate for a referendum.

The Supreme Court heard arguments from the Advocate General for Scotland and the Lord Advocate on 11 and 12 October 2022. On 23 November, the Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish Parliament did not have the power to legislate a second independence referendum.

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