UK Supreme Court rules on Brexit and Article 50

[oggbashan]

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the Government has to pass an Act of Parliament before it can trigger Article 50 and start leaving the EU.

It's not a victory for the Remain campaign. The ruling was about the UK's Constitution. What the judges have said is that because we entered the EU by an Act of Parliament we have to have another Act of Parliament to annul the first one.

The UK Government was expecting that result and had already been planning a fast-track Act of Parliament.

But what it emphasises is that Parliament is the supreme law maker. The Prime Minister and her Cabinet cannot change law without the consent of Parliament.

Unlike US Presidents the UK Prime Minister cannot issue Executive Orders. They don't exist in the UK constitution. All the Prime Minister and Cabinet Members can do is issue orders IF there is a provision in the appropriate Act of Parliament for such orders to be made. Those orders are usually about minor non-controversial matters.

The Supreme Court also ruled that the Westminster Parliament does not have to get the approval of the Scottish Parliament nor the devolved Assemblies in Wales and Northen Ireland because external policy is reserved to Westminster.

It is one of the most significant constitutional rulings made by the Supreme Court in decades and it all happened because a single private individual brought a case against the Government.

But the ruling says absolutely NOTHING about the merits or demerits of Brexit. The case wasn't about that. It was about WHO can authorise a change in existing laws or make new laws. The Prime Minister can't. The members of the Cabinet can't.

Only the House of Commons and House of Lords can pass an Act of Parliament or scrap an existing Act of Parliament. WHEN they have done that the Act isn't effective until it has been approved by Her Majesty the Queen - who never refuses to sign an Act because refusing to sign would cause a constitutional crisis. The most she could ever do is say "La Reine s'advisera" which in Ancient legal French means "I'm thinking about it". That she has never done and she is very unlikely to do that. It would mean in effect that she was saying "Are you serious? This is nonsense.".

The Supreme Court has protected the rights of the citizens of the United Kingdom by stopping the current government (and any government) from acting by decree instead of legislation.

The last time those sort of decrees were valid was before The Glorious Revolution of 1688 which set out that Parliament was the ultimate lawmaking body, not the King/Queen nor her Ministers. But some thought they could trigger Brexit by that pre-1688 process. The Supreme Court says they can't.

Three Cheers for the Lawyers! (Or perhaps not. They are lawyers. Two cheers is enough.)

 

[missemily]

In other news, water is wet. The sky is blue. Referendums are still opinions

Was there any doubt on the matter? No, outside of alarmist and nationalist. Everyone knew that government had to approve such action. Not just ruling party but majority of Parliament. Odds are if general election was called right now a party/ies that say would remain will be elected and do the sane thing and ignore the Brexit vote. Heck the face of the exit vote works for the EU, unlike his Irish counterparts who actually stand for there beliefs. Note Irish pro-independence MPs are noted for trying to find ways to resign without taking job under the crown

 

[Nezhul]

In other news, water is wet. The sky is blue. Referendums are still opinions

Was there any doubt on the matter? No, outside of alarmist and nationalist. Everyone knew that government had to approve such action. Not just ruling party but majority of Parliament. Odds are if general election was called right now a party/ies that say would remain will be elected and do the sane thing and ignore the Brexit vote. Heck the face of the exit vote works for the EU, unlike his Irish counterparts who actually stand for there beliefs. Note Irish pro-independence MPs are noted for trying to find ways to resign without taking job under the crown

Why do you say that? Wouldn't it be that those who voted tor brexit also will vote for the party that supports it? The majority of British voted FOR. So wouldn't it mean that the majority would also vote for the supporting party?

 

[oggbashan]

In other news, water is wet. The sky is blue. Referendums are still opinions

Was there any doubt on the matter? No, outside of alarmist and nationalist. Everyone knew that government had to approve such action. Not just ruling party but majority of Parliament. Odds are if general election was called right now a party/ies that say would remain will be elected and do the sane thing and ignore the Brexit vote. Heck the face of the exit vote works for the EU, unlike his Irish counterparts who actually stand for there beliefs. Note Irish pro-independence MPs are noted for trying to find ways to resign without taking job under the crown

The government said that they would respect and implement the result of the referendum.

Yes, there was doubt about the constitutional position. In theory the Prime Minister, backed by her Cabinet, could have triggered Article 50. Article 50 doesn't say WHO in a country's government has to make the decision.

It could have been possible for the PM to invoke Article 50 on her own. The government has to because they agreed to accept the public's vote on the referendum. What the court has said very clearly is that the Prime Minister, her Cabinet and the Conservative majority in Parliament CANNOT make such a decision without an Act of Parliament. That is significant. It isn't a change in the law. It is a clear statement of what the Supreme Court thinks the law is.

It re-affirms the sovereign power of Parliament. The decision is NOT about Brexit but about how the UK is governed.

An aside from the constitutional part:

The majority of the UK voted to leave, including many areas that are traditionally left-wing Labour supporting. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain but were outnumbered by the majority across the whole UK.

Any party that suggested they would campaign on a platform of Remain now the referendum has been held - would have real difficulty getting its candidates elected. They would be accused of ignoring the public's decision. Whether people voted Leave or Remain, trying to justify NOT leaving would bring back memories of the EU's actions in Ireland - "You voted the wrong way - vote again until you get it right."

Irish pro-independence MPs don't want to take a job under the Crown because they are opposed to rule by the UK. Accepting a job under thr Crown would be betraying their principles.

 

[domroger]

Irish pro-independence MPs don't want to take a job under the Crown because they are opposed to rule by the UK. Accepting a job under the Crown would be betraying their principles.

They are probably the only politicians anywhere with principles .

 

[oggbashan]

They are probably the only politicians anywhere with principles .

Except that they competed for and accepted election to an institution they want to abolish (and accept the perks that go with it).

 

[missemily]

Except that they competed for and accepted election to an institution they want to abolish (and accept the perks that go with it).

They don't want to abolish it. They want to leave it. Bit of difference, and yes there will be little abolish involved as UK will only have England, Wales and Scotland

An aside from the constitutional part:

The majority of the UK voted to leave, including many areas that are traditionally left-wing Labour supporting. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain but were outnumbered by the majority across the whole UK.

Any party that suggested they would campaign on a platform of Remain now the referendum has been held - would have real difficulty getting its candidates elected. They would be accused of ignoring the public's decision. Whether people voted Leave or Remain, trying to justify NOT leaving would bring back memories of the EU's actions in Ireland - "You voted the wrong way - vote again until you get it right."

Irish pro-independence MPs don't want to take a job under the Crown because they are opposed to rule by the UK. Accepting a job under thr Crown would be betraying their principles.

And after results came in, a majority of the UK regretted the whole thing. Pound dropping to historic lows, foreign investment drying up, and even EU support of undeveloped areas gone.

All this because people of UK were lied to with belief that they could have theit cake and eat too. For those not to familar with what went on here is run down. Pro-Leave officials said they will make new deals as good or better then EU ones by case by case basis. However the EU (the guys on the other side of said of the dealing table) basically said "Fuck no, you either deal with us as the EU or not at all". Then they told UK to get there shit going cause EU aren't waiting for them to get off the bus.

Pro-EU members odds are would win an election if called, just because May is facing horrible economy now and its only going to get worse.

 

[Hard_Rom]

It shows that the mob does not rule. A referendum is just a confirmation of public opinion. The rule of law rules in civilized countries. With the Tory majority it is just a matter fo passing the required legislation.

As long as party whips do their job it is a shoe in.

 

[JackLuis]

So is Parliament going to act as they said they would and pass an Act to exit? Or will they oppose the referendum? Will this cause Ireland and Scotland to leave the UK and leave England isolated?

We live in interesting times.

 

[oggbashan]

So is Parliament going to act as they said they would and pass an Act to exit? Or will they oppose the referendum? Will this cause Ireland and Scotland to leave the UK and leave England isolated?

We live in interesting times.

Parliament will huff and puff. Labour and the Scottish Nationalists will try to delay and wreck the bill with amendments but it will pass.

Ireland has already left the UK. Northern Ireland is still part of it but its devolved Assembly is temporarily non-operational because one of the joint leaders has resigned. A large part of the Northern Ireland electorate want to join the rest of Ireland and leave the UK. Another large part wants to stay part of the UK. The Northern Ireland vote to remain in the EU was complicated by consideration of the land border. Very few people want to go back to a solid border controlled by armed soldiery. It doesn't make economic or geographical sense. Since Dublin considers all of the geographical Ireland to be part of their country (although currently it doesn't emphasise it as part of the peace process) anyone living in Northern Ireland can apply to have an Irish passport as well as their British passport. That means that the people of Northern Ireland could have the travel freedom of Europe even if the UK leaves the EU. Tens of thousands have applied for Irish passports even those active in wanting to keep Northern Ireland in the UK. Economic sense trumps politics.

Scotland? The leader of the Scottish National Party wants Scotland to be part of the EU and NOT part of the UK. The vote in Scotland to remain in the EU was strong. There are specific factors for that. But the SNP are suggesting another referendum on Scottish independence. If they do go for one the result is unpredictable. The economic case for an independent Scotland is worse now than it was when the last referendum voted to stay in the UK. Brexit might make some voters more prepared to vote for independence BUT the EU does not appear to look favorably on an application from an independent Scotland to join the EU. Why not? Perhaps because the EU is worried that Scotland would be a drain on the EU, not an asset.

As with most things about Brexit, the further we go down the road, the more complex the process becomes.

 

[JackLuis]

Interesting Ogg. I toured Ireland back in the 80's. In fact our tour was the first coach tour to go into Northern Ireland. As a fourth generation Irish-American I found it fascinating to see what my forebears left behind. I must say that I am very glad that they did leave Ireland and let me grow up in America.

The UK-EU conversation is interesting, as I can view it from afar. I'm not sure I'd want to live in the claustrophobic atmosphere of Europe. As a life long Californian I found the population density and lack of broad horizons very confining.

On the other hand I find America to be much more spacious, leaving room for even more diversity of wing nuttiness.