Scotland lays out legal argument to get veto on Brexit
Scotland has published the legal arguments it is presenting to the UK High Court in the hope of getting a chance to intervene in Britain's withdrawal from the European Union (EU).
Last month, the UK High Court ruled that Brexit needed a parliamentary approval before Prime Minister Theresa May could trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal process for starting Brexit, in order to leave the EU.
May, who had promised to begin the process by March 2017 and finish it in two years, appealed the decision and was granted a chance to present her case next month.
Scotland said Friday that it was joining the case, arguing in a 58-page legal document that any parliamentary vote on the matter would change the devolution arrangements for Scotland, meaning that Glasgow would need to hold its own parliamentary vote on the matter.
“A bill brought before the UK Parliament to withdraw the UK from the EU would engage the constitutional convention in terms of which that Parliament does not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters without the consent of the Scottish Parliament,” the document said.
England and the UK have long been at loggerheads over Scotland’s right to have a say in Brexit.
Although nearly 52 percent of Britons opted to leave the bloc during a referendum in June, some 62 percent of the Scottish people voted against the decision.
Scotland says it should be given an “equal” role in the Brexit negotiations because leaving the EU threatens its access to the EU single market as well.
May has made it clear that she will complete the Brexit process by 2019 and that Scotland has no veto over it.
The Scottish parliament’s possible vote against leaving the EU, although probably not binding for London, would still pose a great constitutional and political challenge for May.
Earlier this month, the UK Supreme Court said that Wales and Scotland's senior law officers were allowed to take part in the appeal.
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