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As a general note, we have to observe that Shetland Islands council has been by far that most obstructive of the organisations to which we have addressed FOIs. This request was first made by Stuart Hill on the WhatDoTheyKnow.com website, a site for the public recording of FOIs. Because of technical difficulties, Stuart was unable to answer any reponses on that site, So the request was transferred to The Sovereign Nation of Shetland's account on the same site. This was explained to the SIC, but they persist in saying they are two different requests. Their response to Stuart Hill's request is here
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On 8 January 2025, Stuart Hill wrote:
Dear Shetland Islands Council,
We are having difficulty finding proof that Shetland is part of Scotland.
According to The Laws of Scotland, Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia, Vol.18(42), "The Crown's sovereignty over Scotland and its dominium eminens, its ultimate tenurial superiority, are the same thing, are identical concepts."
At Volume 18(47) it states that "The dominium eminens or ultimate superiority of the Crown is allodial, because not held of a higher lord, except of God".
We want to know:
- Do you accept The Laws of Scotland, Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia as a binding authority? and
- Are we correct in thinking that the Crown's sovereignty is the same as its allodial ownership?
- Are we correct in thinking that, for the Crown to have sovereignty in Shetland, it must have allodial ownership of Shetland?
- If we are correct at 2) and 3) above, do you have proof that the Crown holds the allodial title of Shetland?
Your chief legal officer refuses to give us an answer on this matter. If proof exists, it must be easy to produce.
Please note that we are not asking for an opinion, legal or otherwise. We are seeking information that we have so far been unable to obtain and which we presume you hold as proof of your authority. The above references to Stair are intended to assist you. They are simply matters of fact on which we are not asking any opinion.
Yours faithfully,
The Sovereign Nation of Shetland
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After a response on 8 January 2025, on 20 January 2025 the SIC wrote:
Council response
2. I refer to the Request Email, as set out in the above table, and acknowledge that the 2002 Act provides a right of access to recorded information. With this fundamental aspect of the 2002 Act in mind, I have assessed that you are not requesting recorded information but are instead seeking a legal opinion
and/or advice relative to your own understanding of the constitutional status of the Shetland Islands visà -vis Scotland.
3. As a result of my assessment, as set out in paragraph 2 above, please treat this letter as constituting notice pursuant to section 17 of the 2002 Act that the information requested is "not held" by the Council.
4. In cognisance of the Council's duty under section 15 of the 2002 Act, and bearing in mind the
ostensibly constitutional nature of what you have asked about in the Request Email, you may instead
wish to direct your queries or concerns in respect of same to the Scottish or UK Governments.
5. Incidentally, whereas not forming part of my assessment relative to the Request Email, above, I
understand that Mr Riise has already been in touch with you to provide details confirming the Council's
ownership of certain heritable property in Shetland; all as would be evidenced by way of formal deeds
or titles recorded at either the General Register of Sasines or the Land Register of Scotland. Again, in
cognisance of the said section 15, you may wish to direct any concerns you may have on this matter to
the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland and/or the Police Service of Scotland should you believe that
the Council's title to any particular heritable property is in any way fraudulent.
6. In respect of formal documentation evidencing heritable proprietorship of land and/or buildings in
Shetland belonging to a third party (namely the Crown), the Council has no information in respect of
such matters and, relative to same, I would refer you back to the terms of paragraph 3 above.
Regards
FOI Co-ordinator
Shetland Islands Council
Points 5 and 6 are, as they point out, 'incidental' to the request. Stuart Hill tried to deal with them separately, but the SIC refused to engage in any discussion about these points, even though they had raised them.
For some unknown reason, the WhatDoTheyKnow site refused to take any updates from Stuart Hill at this point, so the request was taken up by The Sovereign Nation of Shetland. The SIC was notified of this, but continues to asert that this request and the TSNS version are two different requests, that they have answerd this one, so do not need to answer the TSNS version.
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