Judges reject government appeal to derail article 50 EU hearing

The UK government’s appeal to derail the European Court of Justice hearing into whether article 50 could be reversed has been rejected by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal by the Brexit secretary and now the issue is in the hands of the European Court of Justice and will be decided in the emergency hearing scheduled for 27 November.

Ministers who backed the appeal argued that since Brexit would go ahead the courts did not need to rule on the hypothetical question of whether the UK could unilaterally reverse article 50.

A government spokesperson said: “We are disappointed by the decision of the court and it remains a matter of firm policy that we will not be revoking article 50.”

The attempt to overturn Article 50 was initially brought by several Scottish politicians and anti-Brexit campaigner Jolyon Maugham QC.

A statement issued by the Supreme Court said: "It is clear that this interlocutor did not constitute a final judgment."

It continued: "As both this court and the CJEU have made clear, the preliminary ruling is merely a step in the proceedings pending before the national court – it is that court which must assume responsibility for the subsequent judicial decision.

"It will therefore remain for the Court of Session to give judgment in the light of the preliminary ruling, any relevant facts which it may find and any relevant rules of domestic law. It is only then that there will be a final judgment in the proceedings."