24th September, 2019
UK’s highest court has unanimously ruled that the decision by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend parliament for five weeks was unlawful, in what amounts to another bruising political defeat for the Conservative leader.
A total of 11 judges at the Supreme Court in London made the historic decision that Johnson should not have asked the Queen to prorogue parliament until 14 October.
The justices were asked to determine whether the PM’s advice to the Queen was ‘justiciable’ – capable of challenge in the courts – and, if so, whether it was lawful.
They unanimously agreed the advice was justiciable. They also unanimously agreed that the prorogue was unlawful. Lady Hale said the prorogation was ‘void and of no effect’, adding: ‘Parliament has not been prorogued.’
“The decision to advise her Majesty to prorogue parliament was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification,” Supreme Court President Brenda Hale said.
“Parliament has not been prorogued. This is the unanimous judgement of all 11 justices,” Hale said. “It is for parliament, and in particular the speaker and the lords speaker, to decide what to do next.”
Parliament was suspended, or prorogued in the British jargon, from Sept. 10 to Oct. 14. The prorogation was approved by Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s politically neutral head of state, acting on the advice of the prime minister