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Is this the way out of Brexit
| Published: | 4 Jul at 6 PM |
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A legal firm acting on behalf of a group of academics and business people is taking action to ensure Article 50 is not activated without an Act of Parliament.
According to legal eagles Mishcon de Reya, triggering Article, 50 and officially starting the process of leaving Europe, would be unlawful unless a full parliamentary debate had taken place and led to voting on an Act of Parliament. The legal argument is simple in that the UK constitution states the decision to trigger Article 50 rests not with the Prime Minister but with parliament itself.
BBC legal correspondent Clive Coleman said the law firm believes that any prime minister starting the process by utilising his/her executive powers would be acting against the law as defined by the 1972 European Communities Act. This act enshrines Britain’s membership of the European Union.
Constitutionally, any legislation can only be overridden by further legislation, which needs an Act of Parliament giving the PM the legal authority to act. Although the move seems constitutionally unlikely, the passage of an Act of Parliament could increase the chances of the majority of MPs who favoured Remain banding together and blocking the referendum result.
Partner in Mishcon de Reya Kasra Nouroozi told the media it’s important that government utilises the correct process in order to have legal certainty. According to the law, the referendum outcome is not legally binding, making the act of invoking Article 50 without parliament’s approval illegal.
Given the number of protests taking place across the UK, all of which are based on the misinformation, disinformation and plain lies they were fed by the Leave campaign during the run-up to the referendum, any chance to reverse or cancel the decision would lift the pall of uncertainty at present hanging over all UK expats living in EU countries. Everyone now agrees the result is not legally binding, but politicians attempting to cover the morally unacceptable aspects of the debacle might do well to think again.
According to legal eagles Mishcon de Reya, triggering Article, 50 and officially starting the process of leaving Europe, would be unlawful unless a full parliamentary debate had taken place and led to voting on an Act of Parliament. The legal argument is simple in that the UK constitution states the decision to trigger Article 50 rests not with the Prime Minister but with parliament itself.
BBC legal correspondent Clive Coleman said the law firm believes that any prime minister starting the process by utilising his/her executive powers would be acting against the law as defined by the 1972 European Communities Act. This act enshrines Britain’s membership of the European Union.
Constitutionally, any legislation can only be overridden by further legislation, which needs an Act of Parliament giving the PM the legal authority to act. Although the move seems constitutionally unlikely, the passage of an Act of Parliament could increase the chances of the majority of MPs who favoured Remain banding together and blocking the referendum result.
Partner in Mishcon de Reya Kasra Nouroozi told the media it’s important that government utilises the correct process in order to have legal certainty. According to the law, the referendum outcome is not legally binding, making the act of invoking Article 50 without parliament’s approval illegal.
Given the number of protests taking place across the UK, all of which are based on the misinformation, disinformation and plain lies they were fed by the Leave campaign during the run-up to the referendum, any chance to reverse or cancel the decision would lift the pall of uncertainty at present hanging over all UK expats living in EU countries. Everyone now agrees the result is not legally binding, but politicians attempting to cover the morally unacceptable aspects of the debacle might do well to think again.
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