Brexit???

UK government must consult MPs on Brexit

Theresa May does not have the power to invoke Article 50 without parliamentary approval, court rules.

By Alex Spence

The British government cannot begin the process of formally withdrawing from the European Union without approval from parliament, the High Court ruled Thursday.

In a landmark judgment, three senior judges upheld a legal challenge brought by a group of citizens who opposed the Brexit vote.

“We decide that the government does not have the power under the Crown’s prerogative to give notice pursuant to Article 50 for the U.K. to withdraw from the European Union,” the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, the U.K.’s most senior judge, said in a summary of the ruling.

The case provoked a tension that has existed in British law for hundreds of years, about whether power ultimately resides with the government, acting on behalf of the Crown, or parliament.

The claimants argued that Theresa May’s plans to trigger Article 50 in March without putting it to a vote in the House of Commons violated parliamentary sovereignty.

British citizens have certain rights as EU members that were conferred by parliament passing the European Communities Act in 1972, and only parliament has the authority to take that away, their lawyers argued.

The government argued it was entitled to invoke Article 50 without parliament’s permission under its “royal prerogative.”

‎However, the judges said they weren’t persuaded by the government’s legal arguments.

“The most fundamental rule of the U.K.’s constitution is that parliament is sovereign and can make and unmake any law it chooses,” the judges said. “As an aspect of the sovereignty of parliament it has been established for hundreds of years that the Crown — ie, the government of the day — cannot by exercise of prerogative powers override legislation enacted by parliament.”

The government accepted that invoking Article 50 would inevitably change domestic law, the judges said.

The government said it was disappointed with the decision and will appeal.

In an unusual step that signals the importance of the case, it will leapfrog the usual next stage of the appeals process and go directly to the Supreme Court, the U.K.’s highest domestic court.

The Supreme Court has set aside time in early December for a hearing, with all 11 Supreme Court judges expected to sit together during a case for the first time ever.

David Greene, a lawyer for one of the claimants, said: ‎”The government has to accept the constitutional reality that parliament must have early involvement in the process. It shows political leaders are not above the law and that Brexit must follow due process.‎”