Legal bids to block Johnson’s Brexit plan to go ahead
Hearings in London and Belfast will continue on Friday in cases aiming to block the suspension of parliament.
Leading judges in Britain are expected to announce their decision on Friday over the latest legal battle brought over Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks.
Judges at the High Court in London have been urged to find the prime minister’s August 28 advice to Queen Elizabeth II to suspend Parliament for an “exceptional” length of time was an “unlawful abuse of power”. The hearing will reconvene at 10am (0900 GMT) on Friday.
“If we are able to do so we will announce our decision, but the written reasons will follow as soon as we are able to prepare them,” said Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett.
The case brought by campaigner Gina Miller, who successfully challenged the government at the High Court in 2016 over the triggering of the Article 50 process to start the Brexit countdown, is supported by a number of others, including former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major.
The action was contested by Johnson, whose lawyer argued the advice given to the queen was not unlawful and that, in any event, Miller’s claim was “academic”.
Lord Pannick QC, representing Miller, told the packed court: “Our case is that the prime minister’s advice to her majesty to prorogue parliament for a period of five weeks is an unlawful abuse of power.”
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He added: “There is no justification for closing parliament in this way and, accordingly, it represents an unjustified undermining of parliamentary sovereignty which is the bedrock of our constitution.”
‘Failure to understand’
The reason given by Johnson for suspending parliament – to introduce a new programme of legislation – did not require a five-week suspension, Miller’s lawyer said.
He said the decision to prorogue parliament for that length of time was “fatally infected by the prime minister’s failure to understand that parliament is sovereign and that parliament should be allowed to perform its functions in relation to potential legislation”.
But the prime minister’s lawyer responded: “The exercise of this prerogative power is intrinsically one of high policy and politics, not law.”
Arguing the claim was “academic”, he pointed out each House of Parliament will sit before the UK leaves the EU on October 31 “and may consider any matter it chooses”.
He told the court: “The prorogation does not prevent parliament from legislating on any matter it wishes. Parliament is capable of legislating at pace if it chooses to do so.”
The hearing in London came the day after a similar action in Scotland failed. Further legal action being held in Northern Ireland will also progress on Friday.
Whatever the outcome of the challenges against the decision to prorogue the parliament, it is likely the dispute will end up at the UK’s highest court, the Supreme Court, which has set aside September 17 for any possible appeals.
Northern Ireland
In Belfast’s Royal Court of Justice, campaigner Raymond McCord on Thursday also challenged Johnson’s plan to suspend parliament.
The case is being fast-tracked with McCord’s legal team pressing for the judgment to be made in time to be examined by the Supreme Court alongside the challenge heard in London.
The campaigner, whose son Raymond McCord Jnr was murdered by loyalists in 1997, is claiming a disorderly Brexit would damage the peace process in Northern Ireland.
After hearing the arguments on Thursday, Justice Bernard McCloskey said the case would be heard on Friday.
Speaking outside court, McCord welcomed the expedition of the case.
“Tomorrow is a big day for us, we are here to win it and to ensure that Northern Ireland won’t get left behind,” he said.