UK: Court proceedings to stop Johnson suspending Parliament commence in Edinburgh

UK: Court proceedings to stop Johnson suspending Parliament commence in Edinburgh

Copyright: Scottish Legal News

A legal petition to stop Prime Minister Boris Johnson forcing through a no-deal Brexit by suspending Parliament has been granted permission to proceed.

Given the urgency of the situation, an initial hearing to determine further procedure is due to be held at the Court of Session in Edinburgh tomorrow before Lord Doherty, our sister publication Scottish Legal News reports.

The legal challenge is backed by a cross-party group of members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, from Scotland, Wales and England, supported by the Good Law Project.

The group will be asking the Court to declare that the Prime Minister can’t advise the Queen to suspend Parliament to stop it voting on No Deal. If the Court so declares then Boris Johnson will not be able to suspend Parliament for that purpose without Parliament’s permission.

Jolyon Maugham QC, director of the Good Law Project, said: “A man with no mandate seeks to cancel Parliament for fear it will stop him inflicting on an unwilling public an outcome they did not vote for and do not want.

“That’s certainly not democracy and I expect our courts to say it’s not the law.”

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