In a landmark decision, the high court in London ruled on Thursday that the UK government cannot initiate Brexit proceedings without the approval of parliament — a verdict that represents a huge setback to prime minister Theresa May's plans.
Mrs May has claimed that the June referendum in favour of Brexit gave her all the authority she needed to trigger Article 50, the clause in the Treaty on European Union that initiates the withdrawal of a member state.
The British government has said it will appeal.
"The government is determined to respect the result of the referendum. We will appeal this judgment," a government spokesman said.
Markets reacted sharply in the minutes after the court's ruling, as the British pound spiked and bank stocks rallied.
The court was ruling in response to petitions filed by two British nationals: Gina Miller, a businesswoman, and Deir dos Santos, a hairdresser. Their arguments were supported by other groups, including People's Challenge, a crowdfunded movement that raised hundreds of thousands of pounds from supporters to finance its legal fees.
The petitioners argued that Article 50 can only be invoked with the approval of parliament.
The Brexit referendum "did not replace the system of parliamentary representative democracy", Dominic Chambers, Mr dos Santos' counsel, told the court on the opening day of arguments, three weeks ago.
But the government's lawyers have held that Mrs May is empowered to trigger the clause through the use of the royal prerogative, a centuries-old rule that transfers the powers of a monarch to the UK's elected leader.
The limits of the royal prerogative have, however, never been explicitly spelt out. The UK does not have a written constitution, and as a result, court verdicts on constitutional matters always depend upon interpretations of uncodified laws and judicial precedent. Given its importance, it will bypass the court of appeals and proceed straight to the supreme court. The supreme court has already cleared time for hearings by a nine-judge bench on December 7-8, in case an appeal is filed.
ssubramanian@thenational.ae
* additional reporting from Reuters
http://ift.tt/2fyh80H
3Novices Europe
No comments:
Post a Comment