UK Supreme Court to decide if government can trigger Brexit process
The UK Supreme Court has begun a hearing into a landmark case to decide whether the government can trigger the process of Britain’s exit from the European Union without the parliament's approval.
The country's highest judicial body on Monday begun a four-day hearing about a government appeal against last month's High Court ruling that only the parliament has the authority to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to begin the Brexit process.
If the Supreme Court upholds the High Court’s ruling, that could disrupt Prime Minister Theresa May's planned timetable for invoking Article 50 by March and derail the government's wider Brexit plans.
In his opening remarks, Supreme Court President David Neuberger said the case was simply about the law.
"We are aware of the strong feelings associated with the many wider political questions surrounding the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union," Neuberger said. "However ... those wider political questions are not the subject of this appeal."
"This appeal is concerned with legal issues and, as judges, our duty is to consider those issues impartially, and to decide the case according to the law,” he added. “This is what we shall do."
The government's top lawyer, Attorney General Jeremy Wright told the court the case had been brought "perfectly properly" and raised "issues going to the very heart of our constitutional settlement".
The case is the most high-profile one the UK Supreme Court has considered since it was established in 2009.
If the government wins the case, May can proceed with her plans to invoke Article 50 by the end of March.
If the government loses, Parliament could in theory block Brexit, though few legal experts expect such an outcome and think lawmakers would only open the process to greater scrutiny and delay.
Many observers and investors believe the greater Parliament's involvement, the less chance there is of a "hard Brexit," where the UK loses its access to the EU single market.
The case was originally brought by financial entrepreneur Gina Miller along with hairdresser Deir Tozetti Dos Santo.
They went to the High Court to argue that leaving the EU would remove some of their rights, including free movement within the bloc, and that shouldn't be done without the parliament's approval.
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