UK court says parliament act necessary to start EU exit

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

The U.K. government will have to seek an act of parliament before triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which will officially initiate Britain’s exit negotiations from the European Union, the country’s top court ruled Tuesday.

But after the much-anticipated ruling, Brexit minister David Davis said the government will bring a bill to parliament “simply to give the government the power to invoke Article 50 and begin the process of leaving the European Union.”

"Parliament will rightly scrutinize and debate this legislation," Davis said.

"But I trust no-one will seek to make it a vehicle for attempts to thwart the will of the people, or frustrate or delay the process of our exit from the European Union," he added.

The decision announced by the Supreme Court’s president, Lord Neuberger, said the ruling came with an 8-3 majority of the judges.

“The supreme court…dismisses the secretary of state’s appeal. In a joint judgment of the majority, the supreme court holds that an Act of Parliament is required to authorise ministers to give notice of the decision of the UK to withdraw from the European Union,” the decision said.

Shortly after the decision, a government statement said the court decision will not change anything in terms of the U.K.’s leaving the EU.

“The British people voted to leave the EU, and the government will deliver on their verdict – triggering Article 50, as planned, by the end of March. Today’s ruling does nothing to change that,” it said.

“This judgment does not change the fact that the UK will be leaving the European Union, and it is our job to deliver on the instruction the people of the UK have given us,” Davis said in a parliament statement.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn also reacted to the decision, saying that his party “respects the result of the referendum and the will of the British people and will not frustrate the process for invoking Article 50.”

Corbyn urged the government Brexit plan to include accountability to parliament during exit negotiations as well as a vote on the final deal.

Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

The ruling also said the Scottish Parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies have no say in the case.

“Relations with the EU and other foreign affairs matters are reserved to United Kingdom Government and Parliament, not to the devolved institutions,” the court said.

The summary of the ruling also said that “the devolved legislatures do not have a veto on the UK’s decision to withdraw from the European Union.”

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon expressed disappointment over the court’s decision regarding the devolved administrations.

“We are obviously disappointed with the Supreme Court decision in respect to the devolved administrations and the legal enforceability of the Sewel convention,” she said in a statement.

The Sewel Convention is a procedure with which a devolved parliament in the U.K. gives the London government permission to legislate on a devolved matter.

“However, it is becoming clearer by the day that Scotland’s voice is simply not being heard or listened to within the U.K.," Sturgeon said.

“The claims about Scotland being an equal partner are being exposed as nothing more than empty rhetoric," she added.

She said: “This raises fundamental issues above and beyond that of EU membership. Is Scotland content for our future to be dictated by an increasingly right-wing Westminster Government with just one MP here – or is it better that we take our future into our own hands? It is becoming ever clearer that this is a choice that Scotland must make.”

Davis said that the ruling provides clarity but does not mean the U.K. government will not keep working with local administrations on Brexit.

He said, “While this provides welcome clarity, it in no way diminishes our commitment to work closely with the people and administrations of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland as we move forward with our withdrawal from the European Union.”

Nicola Sturgeon previously said her administration was not bluffing about a second referendum on Scotland’s independence from the U.K. in case the central government’s Brexit negotiations cut her country off from the European single market.

A referendum held last June saw British voters decide to leave the 28-member bloc, a decision, which made David Cameron resign as prime minister shortly thereafter.

The ruling Conservative Party later nominated Theresa May as the new premier to lead the country’s exit negotiations with the EU. However, a decision by the country's High Court said the May government could not trigger Article 50 without parliament's permission, but the government appealed this ruling at the Supreme Court, which took it up last December.

May has insisted her government will trigger Article 50 and said last week that her government will bring the final Brexit deal to the House of Commons for approval.