Supreme Court to give judgment on Brexit case next Tuesday
The judgement on the landmark Supreme Court case on whether the Prime Minister can trigger formal Brexit negotiations using royal prerogative, will be made on 24 January.
All 11 Supreme Court justices heard the case over four days in December, marking the largest panel convened since the Law Lords was made in 1876.
The case was brought to the Supreme Court after the government challenged the ruling of the High Court that parliamentary consent is needed before triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, which starts a two-year clock on negotiations with the EU.
According to the Guardian, government ministers expect to lose the Brexit case with the judges, upholding the High Court’s ruling.
The initial case was brought to the High Court by Gina Miller, a fund manager, and hairdresser Deir Dos Santos who questioned the Prime Minister's prerogative powers.
Legal representatives from the Scottish and Welsh governments were granted permission to address the Supreme Court, after they said that triggering Article 50 may need permission from devolved governments. Representation from expats living abroad and from the Independent Workers Union also addressed the court.
The government has said that it is currently preparing legislation to trigger Article 50, despite the High Court ruling, while Prime Minister Theresa May said that it had not disrupted her timetable to trigger the clause by the end of March.
In December, May conceded to calls for greater clarity over Brexit and MPs backed a Labour motion to scrutinise the government’s Brexit plan before she triggers Article 50.
Previously the other legal challenge to Brexit was rejected by the Northern Ireland High Court in October, ruling that the 1998 Good Friday Agreement did not prevent the government from activating Article 50.
Meanwhile, another legal challenge to leaving the European single market was supposed to be heard this week in the High Court, but has been postponed till February.
British Influence, a think tank which brought the case to the High Court, argues that Britain should remain part of the European Economic Area, which includes the remaining 27 members of the EU, along with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, three of the four members of the European Free Trade Area, after Brexit.
It said that for the government to take Britain out of the single market, it would need to activate Article 127 of the EEA agreement.
On Tuesday, May said that she would seek to take Britain out of the European single market and the customs union in order to curb the free movement of people and forge new trade deals, in a widely anticipated speech. She hopes to strike a trade deal with the EU and a new agreement for customs.
The Prime Minister also said the final Brexit deal reached will go to a vote in both houses of Parliament.