U.K. Supreme Court unanimously finds PM Johnson's suspension of Parliament 'unlawful' - Action News
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U.K. Supreme Court unanimously finds PM Johnson's suspension of Parliament 'unlawful'

In a major blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the U.K.'s highest court has ruled his decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks in the crucial countdown to the country's Brexit deadline is "unlawful."

Judges say prorogue order is 'void and of no effect'

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in New York City at a UN gathering this week. On Tuesday, the U.K.'s top court ruled his decision to suspend Parliament is illegal, but Johnson says he disagrees with the decision. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

In a major blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the U.K.'s highest court ruled Tuesdayhis decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks in the crucial countdown to the country's Brexit deadline is "unlawful."

The unanimous Supreme Court ruling declared the order to suspend Parliament "void and of no effect."

Supreme Court President Brenda Hale said the suspension is "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.

Watch Hale'sruling against Johnson's suspensionof Parliament:

Suspension of U.K. Parliament was illegal, Supreme Court rules

5 years ago
Duration 0:55
The U.K.'s top court ruled unanimously that PM Boris Johnson's government had shut Parliament to squelch debate on its Brexit policy.

Thelower house of Parliament, the House of Commons, will sit on Wednesday, House ofCommons Speaker John Bercow said.

"I have instructed the House authorities to prepare not for the recall the prorogation was unlawful and is void to prepare for the resumption of the business of the House of Commons," he told reporters.

"Specifically, I've instructed the House authorities to undertake such steps as are necessary to ensure that the House of Commons sits tomorrow," at 11:30 a.m.local time (6:30 a.m. ET).

Watch Bercowannounce the resumption of Parliament:

U.K. House of Commons to sit Wednesday, Speaker says

5 years ago
Duration 0:43
John Bercow says the U.K. House of Commons will resume business following the Supreme Court's ruling that the suspension of Parliament was unlawful.

In this country 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 Oct. 31 Brexit deadline when the U.K.is scheduled to leave the European Union.

"This is an unprecedented judgment," Joelle Grogan, a law lecturer at Middlesex University, told CBC News. "This is the strongest judgment that I certainly have ever seen as a statement from the Supreme Court against a government here in the U.K."

Watch Grogan discuss the potential impact of the Supreme Court's decision:

U.K. Supreme Court's ruling against Parliament suspension 'unprecedented'

5 years ago
Duration 0:57
Joelle Grogan, a law lecturer at Middlesex University, discusses what the U.K. Supreme Court's ruling against the suspension of Parliament means for Boris Johnson and Brexit.

Johnson, who is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, says he"strongly disagrees" withthe court's ruling and won't rule out suspending Parliament again.He has also refused to say whether he will resign.

Johnson said on Tuesday that the Supreme Court ruling against him had hindered his attempt to get a Brexit deal but that as the law currently stood, the U.K.would leave the EU on Oct. 31.

"Obviously getting a deal is not made much easier againstthis background, but we are going to get on and do it," Johnson told reporters.

"I don't think that it's right, but we will go ahead, and of course Parliament will come back."

Watch Johnson's reaction to the Supreme Court's decision:

Boris Johnson 'strongly disagrees' with U.K. Supreme Court decision

5 years ago
Duration 0:56
The U.K. prime minister defended his prorogation of Parliament despite the country's top court ruling that it was unlawful.

The Prime Minister's Office saidhe won't resign as prime minister.

He's set to take a flightfrom New York overnight, earlier than planned, which wouldbring him back to London by the time Parliament resumes on Wednesday, according to his office.

The rulingfollowed three days of hearings last week before a panel of 11 judges.

The court rejected the government's assertions the decision to suspend Parliament until Oct. 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.

Watch as the U.S. and U.K. leaders talk about the ruling at the United Nations:

'I think he's going to get it done': Trump on Johnson and Brexit

5 years ago
Duration 2:01
U.S. President Donald Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson take questions from reporters about Johnson's decision to shut down Parliament in the crucial countdown to Brexit, and a high court decision today saying Johnson's move is unlawful.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who met with Johnson at the UN, said he had "no reaction" when he heard about the ruling, but he thinks the U.K. prime minister "is going to get it done," referring to Brexit.

"I just asked Boris, and to him, it's another day in the office. He's a professional. It's just another day in the office," Trump told reporters.

The U.K. government's opponents argue Johnson illegally shut down Parliament just weeks before the country is due to leave the 28-nation bloc for the "improper purpose" of dodging legislators' 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 Oct. 31 with or without a divorce deal with Europe.

Calls for Johnson's resignation

The landmark decision immediately prompted demands thatJohnson quit.

British Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn called onJohnson on Tuesday to consider his position and call a new election.

Watch Labour LeaderJeremy Corbyn demand Johnson's resignation:

Opposition leader Corbyn urges PM Johnson to 'consider his position'

5 years ago
Duration 0:47
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn says U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson should resign after the Supreme Court ruled that his suspension of Parliament was illegal.

To huge cheers and chants of "Johnson out!" Corbyn said the prime minister should become the shortest-ever serving leader andLabour is ready to form a government.

"I invite Boris Johnson, in the historic words, to 'consider his position,'" Corbyn told delegates at the Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton.

Scottish National Party legislatorJoanna Cherry said Johnson should resign because of the Supreme Court ruling.

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 Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the EUParliament'schief Brexit official Guy Verhofstadt says he is relieved that at least one key pillar of British life has survived: Parliamentary democracy.

Transparency campaigner Gina Miller called the ruling "a win for parliamentary sovereignty, the separation of powers and independence of our British courts."

Miller, one of the people who brought the case against the government, saidJohnson advised the Queen to shut down Parliament "to silence our democratically elected MPs at one of the most critical times in our country's modern history."

With files from Reuters