The Declaration of Arbroath was a declaration of Scottish Independence, and set out to confirm Scotland's status as an independent, sovereign state and its use of military action when unjustly attacked.
The Declaration made a number of much-debated rhetorical points: that Scotland had always been independent, indeed for longer than England; that Edward I of England had unjustly attacked Scotland and perpetrated atrocities; that Robert the Bruce had delivered the Scottish nation from this peril; and, most controversially, that the independence of Scotland was the prerogative of the Scots people, rather than the King of Scots. In fact it stated that the nobility would choose someone else to be king if the current one did anything to threaten Scotland's independence.
The Declaration made a number of much-debated rhetorical points: that Scotland had always been independent, indeed for longer than England; that Edward I of England had unjustly attacked Scotland and perpetrated atrocities; that Robert the Bruce had delivered the Scottish nation from this peril; and, most controversially, that the independence of Scotland was the prerogative of the Scots people, rather than the King of Scots. In fact it stated that the nobility would choose someone else to be king if the current one did anything to threaten Scotland's independence.
In Scotland it is the 'people' that are sovereign, rather than the monarch or parliament, as in England.
Excerpt from Declaration of Arbroath
...'for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself'.
The stirring rhetoric of the Declaration has made it famous both in Scotland and internationally, and it has been suggested that it had some influence on the drafters of the United States Declaration of Independence.
More recently: 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence
More recently: 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence
The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence was an act of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government Assembly of Kosovo, adopted on February 17th 2008, which declared Kosovo to be independent from Serbia.
It was the second Declaration of Independence by Kosovo's Albanian-dominated political institutions, the first having been proclaimed on September 7th 1990.
Serbia intends to seek international validation and support for its stance that the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence is illegal at the gathering of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, in September 2008.
Kosovars decided to unilaterally proclaim the Republic of Kosovo, obligating themselves in the process to follow the Ahtisaari plan's provisions in full. As of mid-April 2008, this has largely been the case, with the new Republic adopting a constitution written by local and international scholars protecting minority rights and providing for a representative government with guaranteed ethnic representation, which law is to take effect on June 15th 2008.
On Feb 17th, 2008, the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government Assembly of Kosovo declared independence, to mixed International reactions.
Photo: Independence Pass
No comments:
Post a Comment