There are significant gaps in the information available to policymakers and citizens at this crucial constitutional moment for Scotland. Stephen Tierney has been engaged in advising the Scottish Parliament on the Referendum Bill, applying his research on international referendum practice to help ensure that the process in 2014 is properly democratic. Through the Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law he has also been addressing the substantive issues at stake, including what independence would mean for the constitution of Scotland, and the constitutional process that would likely follow in the event of a Yes vote. Other work has been on the European and International law issues that would need to be addressed were Scotland to become independent. See the paper: Legal Issues Surrounding the Referendum on Independence for Scotland.

A key issue is to help inform the public and in particular young voters. To that end Tierney’s project website offers quizzes aimed at young people, testing their knowledge of the UK and Scottish constitutional systems and, in due course, of the independence issue itself http://www.scottishindependenceaudit.ed.ac.uk/quizzes

Stephen Tierney's University of Edinburgh profile - https://www.law.ed.ac.uk/people/professor-stephen-tierney