Scotland may have to reapply to intl organisations: Britain

London, February 11, 2013: According to legal advice published by the British government, Scotland may have to reapply for membership of international organisations such as the UN and EU if it votes for independence.

The rest of the United Kingdom would be a continuing state with the same status it currently has in international law if Scotland secedes after a 2014 referendum, two experts said in a legal opinion commissioned by London.

But Scotland would become a "new state" and therefore would not automatically be party to thousands of treaties and membership of bodies also including NATO, the IMF and World Bank, the legal opinion said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron's office said it was taking the "the unusual step of publishing, in full" the 57-page document to clear up uncertainty about the legal status of an independent Scotland.

In a statement accompanying the legal opinion, Downing Street said "If Scotland became independent, only the 'remainder of the UK' would automatically continue to exercise the same rights, obligations and powers under international law as the UK currently does, and would not have to renegotiate existing treaties or reapply for membership of international organisations".