UK Supreme Court rules Johnson’s suspension of Parliament was illegal
Lawmakers call on PM to resign over measure deemed unlawful; speaker of the house says MPs should reconvene immediately
LONDON — In a major blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Britain’s highest court ruled Tuesday that his decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks in the crucial countdown to the country’s Brexit deadline was illegal.
The unanimous Supreme Court ruling declared the order to suspend Parliament “void and of no effect.”
Supreme Court President Brenda Hale said the suspension “was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification.”
She said the court’s decision means Parliament was never legally suspended and is technically still sitting.
Following the decision there were calls from other lawmakers for Johnson to step down.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn told his party conference that Johnson should resign “and become the shortest serving prime minister there’s ever been.”
He said Johnson’s illegal suspension of Parliament shows his “contempt” for democracy and the rule of law.
“I invite Boris Johnson, in the historic words, to consider his position,” Corbyn told the party faithful.
Scottish National Party lawmaker Joanna Cherry also called for Johnson’s resignation.
Cherry is one of the people who brought the legal case against the prime minister.
“His position is untenable and he should have the guts for once to do the decent thing and resign,” she said.
The speaker of Britain’s lower house welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling and said that parliament must now “convene without delay.”
“In reaching their conclusion, they have vindicated the right and duty of Parliament to meet at this crucial time to scrutinize the executive and hold Ministers to account,” John Bercow, the speaker of the House of Commons, said in a statement.
“As the embodiment of our Parliamentary democracy, the House of Commons must convene without delay. To this end, I will now consult the party leaders as a matter of urgency.”
In this nation without a written constitution, the case marked a rare confrontation between the prime minister, the courts and Parliament over their rights and responsibilities.
It revolved around whether Johnson acted lawfully when he advised the queen to suspend Parliament for five weeks during a crucial time frame before the October 31 Brexit deadline when Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union.
Johnson, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, has refused to say whether he will resign if he is found to have broken the law, or will seek to shut down Parliament again.
The decision followed three days of hearings last week before a panel of 11 judges.
The court rejected the government’s assertions that the decision to suspend Parliament until October 14 was routine and not related to Brexit. It claimed that under Britain’s unwritten constitution, it is a matter for politicians, not courts, to decide.
The government’s opponents argue that Johnson illegally shut down Parliament just weeks before the country is due to leave the 28-nation bloc for the “improper purpose” of dodging lawmakers’ scrutiny of his Brexit plans.
They also accused Johnson of misleading the queen, whose formal approval was needed to suspend the legislature.
Johnson and Parliament have been at odds since he took power in July with the determination to take Britain out of the EU on October 31 with or without a divorce deal with Europe.
The Times of Israel Community.