Scottish appeal court declares suspension of UK parliament unlawful

September 11, 2019 3:32 pm

The appeal court in Scotland has declared the decision of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend the UK parliament as unlawful.

The prime minister had asked Queen Elizabeth II for permission to suspend parliament for five weeks in the run-up to the October Brexit deadline.

According to him, the current parliamentary session had been running for too long “and needs to be brought to a close”.

The Queen approved the request leading to the suspension of the parliament.

However, the three judges of the Scottish appeal court declared the suspension of the parliament as unlawful.

The judgement led by Carloway, Scotland’s most senior judge, overturned an earlier ruling by the high court in London, England, which ruled that Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament for five weeks was legal.

Seems we have lost #Cherrycase to stop #prorogation at 1st instance. Judge rules court can’t review exercise of prerogative power to #prorogue. We thinks he’s erred in law on this point & others & will seek to appeal immediately #Brexit #StopTheCoup
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— Joanna Cherry KC (@joannaccherry) September 4, 2019

Lawyers acting for 75 opposition members of parliaments (MPs) and peers appealed the decision, where they argued that Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament for five weeks was illegal.

The lawyers also argued that the decision was in breach of the constitution, and an attempt to stifle parliamentary debate and action on Brexit – a claim which Johnson had denied.

In the ruling, the judges declared that Johnson’s prorogation request to the Queen and her decision to accept it “was unlawful and is thus null and of no effect”.

All 3 judges in Scotland’s Highest court of appeal rule #Prorogation #unlawful! #Cherrycase succeeds

— Joanna Cherry KC (@joannaccherry) September 11, 2019

Disgraceful slur on #judicialindependence. We chose the #Scottish courts because we are Scottish & they weren’t on holiday. The is the Supreme Court of Scotland & a higher court than the court of 1st instance in England. #Cherrycase https://t.co/shpctWbsSk

— Joanna Cherry KC (@joannaccherry) September 11, 2019
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The supreme court has scheduled an emergency hearing on both the Scottish and English cases for Tuesday, alongside a third challenge brought in the courts in Belfast.