THE body representing the country's solicitors is calling on Alex Salmond to outline contingency plans in the event of an independent Scotland failing to agree a deal to share the pound or being unable to negotiate EU membership within its 18-month timescale.
In a report published today, the Law Society of Scotland also questions Scottish Government plans to continue charging tuition fees to students from the rest of the UK following a Yes vote, in an apparent breach of EU law.
Challenging the main pro-UK parties, the Law Society urges Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats to provide clarity on further devolution for Holyrood if Scots vote No in September's referendum.
The study calls on the three parties to explain how their "diametrically opposed" proposals for new tax and other powers would be reconciled.
The report, Scotland's Constitutional Future 2, says on legal issues the Scottish Government should set out transitional arrangements for cases already before the UK Supreme Court if, as the SNP plans, the body is replaced by a Scottish Supreme Court.
The study raises questions about pensions provision and warns the creation of a new tax system "could take years to achieve".
Alistair Morris, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said: "Despite much debate, a major White Paper, devolution commission reports, analysis papers and a draft Independence Bill, many of us believe important questions on Scotland's future remain unanswered.
"There continues to be uncertainty on fundamental issues including the currency we would use, EU membership, how our economy would succeed and what taxes we would pay.
"There are also questions over how further devolution can and would be delivered in the event of a No vote."
Lawyers representing both sides of the campaign clashed over the conclusions. QC and former LibDem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said: "With less than 70 days to go ... the pressure is really on the Yes campaign to spell out their plans on currency and the EU."
Speaking on behalf of the pro-UK group Lawyers Together, Patrick Layden QC said: "The process of actually separating Scotland from the UK will not be quick or smooth. It would take more than 18 months to negotiate with the rest of the UK on the terms of independence. We could not sensibly approach the EU until after we had done all that."
But Joanna Cherry QC, from Lawyers for Yes, said the Scottish Government had provided "considerable detail" and accused UK ministers of refusing "to engage in any meaningful contingency planning".
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We have put forward our guide to independence in Scotland's Future, the most comprehensive and detailed blueprint of its kind ever published.
"An independent Scotland will keep the pound and remain in the EU as an independent member state. The only threat to Scotland's place in Europe, and the investment and jobs it supports, comes from Westminster's proposed in-out referendum - and the biggest cause of any uncertainty ahead of September's referendum is the UK Government's refusal to enter discussions on key issues."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article