Blow for PM Johnson as Scottish court rules suspension of parliament is unlawful

[snoop1130]

Blow for PM Johnson as Scottish court rules suspension of parliament is unlawful

 

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks after Britain’s parliament voted on whether to hold an early general election, in Parliament in London, Britain, September 10, 2019, in this still image taken from Parliament TV footage. Parliament TV via REUTERS

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Scotland’s highest court of appeal ruled on Wednesday that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament for five weeks was unlawful and should be annulled.

 

Parliament was prorogued, or suspended, on Monday until Oct. 14, a move opponents argued was designed to thwart their attempts to scrutinise his plans for leaving the European Union and allow him to push through a no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31.

 

“We are calling for parliament to be recalled immediately,” Scottish National Party lawmaker Joanna Cherry, who led the challenge, told Sky News after the verdict by Scotland’s Inner Court of Session.

 

“You cannot break the law with impunity, Boris Johnson. The rule of law will be upheld by Scotland’s courts and I hope also the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom,” Cherry said.

 

Johnson’s office said the government would appeal to the Supreme Court, the highest judicial body in the United Kingdom. Jo Maugham, a lawyer involved in the Scottish case, said the government’s appeal would begin next Tuesday.

 

In the summary of their decision, the three Scottish judges concluded that the principal reason to prorogue parliament was to prevent it holding the executive to account over Brexit and to allow Johnson to pursue a no-deal Brexit policy.

 

“The only inference that could be drawn was that the UK Government and the Prime Minister wished to restrict Parliament,” the summary said one judge, Lord James Drummond Young, had concluded.

 

“The Court will accordingly make an Order declaring that the Prime Minister’s advice to HM (Her Majesty) the Queen and the prorogation which followed thereon was unlawful and is thus null and of no effect.”

 

Johnson announced on Aug. 28 that parliament would be prorogued, saying the government wanted the suspension so it could then launch a new legislative agenda.

 

Opponents argued that the real reason was to shut down debate and challenges to his Brexit plans. The court was shown documents that showed Johnson was considering prorogation weeks before he asked Queen Elizabeth to suspend the legislature.

 

“The UK government needs to bring forward a strong domestic legislative agenda,” a government spokesman said in response to Wednesday’s ruling. “Proroguing Parliament is the legal and necessary way of delivering this.”

 

On Friday, London’s High Court rejected a similar challenge by campaigners and an appeal in that case is due to be heard on Sept. 17 at the Supreme Court.

 

Johnson, who took office in July, has promised to take Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a withdrawal agreement.

 

Before parliament was suspended, lawmakers forced through legislation which forces the prime minister to seek a three-month delay to Brexit on Oct. 19 if no divorce agreement has been agreed to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

 

However, Johnson has ruled out asking the EU for any extension to the exit date.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-09-11

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[Basil B]

Another bad day at the office...

 

Wonder how this is going to pan out...

 

Off to Balmoral to ask her majesty to un-prorogue Parliament? 

[DannyCarlton]

And if the appeal is held up at the Supreme court, the Scots will take it to the ECJ. I wonder who they'll back?

 

Cheer up Boris.

 

 

[evadgib]

More SNP tail wagging the dog ????

Under our constitution this is utter baloney as presumably will shortly become clear.

 

Key phrase: The UK government said it will appeal against the ruling to the Supreme Court in London.

 

 

 

[DannyCarlton]

6 minutes ago, Basil B said:

Another bad day at the office...

 

Wonder how this is going to pan out...

 

Off to Balmoral to ask her majesty to un-prorogue Parliament? 

If Boris has committed a crime by prorogueing parliament, doesn't that make her a co conspiritor?

 

Her Majesty will not be amused.

 

Can she chop her own head off?

[Rookiescot]

8 minutes ago, evadgib said:

More tail wagging the dog ????

Under our constitution this is utter baloney as presumably will shortly become clear.

So English law transcends Scottish law?

What was it you Brexiteers were saying about how unfair it is that the EU courts could overrule the UK's one?

 

Brexit. Gift that keeps on giving ???? 

[david555]

17 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

So English law transcends Scottish law?

What was it you Brexiteers were saying about how unfair it is that the EU courts could overrule the UK's one?

 

Brexit. Gift that keeps on giving ???? 

Like I said before they name it U.K. but.... think.... England ….. ages already

[Bluespunk]

55 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Scotland’s highest court of appeal ruled on Wednesday that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament for five weeks was unlawful and should be annulled.

BOOM!

[Jip99]

Scotland who ?

[evadgib]

21 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

Scotland who ?

Nil ????

[Caledonia Boy]

1 hour ago, evadgib said:

More SNP tail wagging the dog ????

Under our constitution this is utter baloney as presumably will shortly become clear.

 

Key phrase: The UK government said it will appeal against the ruling to the Supreme Court in London.

 

 

 

Is that the unwritten constitution you're referring to?

[Bruntoid]

There I was adorning a local beach in unfeasibly small budgie smugglers, picking at a blue crab salad with ice cold Heineken to wash it down (left the wine cooler at home tsk), thinking life doesn’t get better than this when BOOOOMMMM, the news feed comes through that Boris has been screwed AGAIN !!!! How wrong I was, just how calamitous can this guy get ??

 

As I nearly smirked myself to death I pondered if Dominic Cummings was an equity how do you think his share price would have performed over the last couple of weeks ? ????

 

 

[david555]

16 minutes ago, Bruntoid said:

There I was adorning a local beach in unfeasibly small budgie smugglers, picking at a blue crab salad with ice cold Heineken to wash it down (left the wine cooler at home tsk), thinking life doesn’t get better than this when BOOOOMMMM, the news feed comes through that Boris has been screwed AGAIN !!!! How wrong I was, just how calamitous can this guy get ??

 

As I nearly smirked myself to death I pondered if Dominic Cummings was an equity how do you think his share price would have performed over the last couple of weeks ? ????

 

 

I wonder if this Boris broke a mirror (7 years bad luck if superficies'),...., or refused a Gypsy beggar woman an alms.... ? lol , as really the bad luck does not stop for him ….

[Bluespunk]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

In the summary of their decision, the three Scottish judges concluded that the principal reason to prorogue parliament was to prevent it holding the executive to account over Brexit and to allow Johnson to pursue a no-deal Brexit policy.

 

“The only inference that could be drawn was that the UK Government and the Prime Minister wished to restrict Parliament,” the summary said one judge, Lord James Drummond Young, had concluded.

 

“The Court will accordingly make an Order declaring that the Prime Minister’s advice to HM (Her Majesty) the Queen and the prorogation which followed thereon was unlawful and is thus null and of no effect.”

Ah, the news since johnson decided to try to shut down parliament to force through his no deal agenda, just gets better every day.

 

“Time and time again does the pride of man influence his very own fall. While denying it, one gradually starts to believe that he is the authority, or that he possesses great moral dominion over others, yet it is spiritually unwarranted. By that point he loses steam; in result, he falsely begins trying to prove that unwarranted dominion by seizing the role of a condemner.”

 

 Criss Jami, Salomé: In Every Inch In Every Mile

 

 

[brucec64]

Lying directly to the queen must be a "crowning" achievement in a long, storied career of lying.

[elliss]

40 minutes ago, david555 said:

I wonder if this Boris broke a mirror (7 years bad luck if superficies'),...., or refused a Gypsy beggar woman an alms.... ? lol , as really the bad luck does not stop for him ….

 

 He deserves all the bad luck , he can have, and more.

   I look forward to the next episodes ...

 

[oldhippy]

Just when I thought the brexit circus could not possibly get any more prepostorous....

The UK has surpassed Thailand as the laughing stock of the world.

Could you imagine us Europeans wanting Thailand in our Union?

Could you imagine us Europeans wanting the UK in our union?

[DannyCarlton]

1 minute ago, elliss said:

 

 He deserves all the bad luck , he can have .

   I look forward to the next episodes, etc... 

 

A real life Game of Thrones. Fascinating.

[oldhippy]

59 minutes ago, Bruntoid said:

There I was adorning a local beach in unfeasibly small budgie smugglers, picking at a blue crab salad with ice cold Heineken to wash it down (left the wine cooler at home tsk), thinking life doesn’t get better than this when BOOOOMMMM, the news feed comes through that Boris has been screwed AGAIN !!!! How wrong I was, just how calamitous can this guy get ??

 

As I nearly smirked myself to death I pondered if Dominic Cummings was an equity how do you think his share price would have performed over the last couple of weeks ? ????

 

 

I agree with everything you say, EXCEPT for liking Heineken.

 

[edwinchester]

One of the reasons the Govt lost today is not a single Govt Minister was prepared to say Parliament was prorogued purely to prepare for the Queen's speech. It seems they knew they would be commiting perjury if they did so.

Also In response to the anti-prorogueing petition the Govt released a statement that Brexit must and will be delivered by Oct 31st thus knitting the proroguing and Brexit together.

One can only imagine the hand wringing regret going on in the Govt Appeals Team after realising the implications of the above statement.

[RuamRudy]

3 hours ago, evadgib said:

More SNP tail wagging the dog ????

Under our constitution this is utter baloney as presumably will shortly become clear.

 

Key phrase: The UK government said it will appeal against the ruling to the Supreme Court in London.

 

 

Scots Law is sovereign - my understanding is that regardless of any difference of opinion in the Supreme Court, the decision today cannot be overruled. 

 

This thread sheds a little light on those differences, but we seem to be in very uncharted territory at the moment. 

 

EDIT: I have read a bit more regarding court supremacy and now seem more confused than ever. What I think (but very happy to be corrected if wrong) is that the Supreme Court is above all the courts in the land, but that they rule in accordance with the law of the court in question. Therefore the appeal to the Supreme Court will be that the Scots judges made an incorrect decision under Scots law. 

 

A nice little quote from the thread I linked above: Boris Johnson is the first prime minister to have been found by a court to have misled a king or queen.

[baboon]

I would almost feel sorry for Johnson. But he is reaping what he sowed. He carped from the sidelines in order to get May out and secure the job for himself. Well now he has it, he must deliver and can't.

Now it his his turn to somehow have to placate the ERG, Farage, the DUP and the moderates in his own party. And the other half of the country who wish to Remain. Good luck with that. Oh, and with the Scots wanting the hell out of this debacle. 

You deserve it. Godspeed to that ditch.

[sammieuk1]

He should now head straight to Dover jump off the cliff and tell us if the crash landing hurts preferably handcuffed to Farage and whispering Jeremy ????  

[elliss]

3 hours ago, evadgib said:

More SNP tail wagging the dog ????

Under our constitution this is utter baloney as presumably will shortly become clear.

 

Key phrase: The UK government said it will appeal against the ruling to the Supreme Court in London.

 

 

 

 

         Farage, ties and lies,  maybe you prefer,  lies and thais. 555

 

 

 

 

 

[StreetCowboy]

20 minutes ago, baboon said:

I would almost feel sorry for Johnson. But he is reaping what he sowed. He carped from the sidelines in order to get May out and secure the job for himself. Well now he has it, he must deliver and can't.

Now it his his turn to somehow have to placate the ERG, Farage, the DUP and the moderates in his own party. And the other half of the country who wish to Remain. Good luck with that. Oh, and with the Scots wanting the hell out of this debacle. 

You deserve it. Godspeed to that ditch.

Perhaps sadly, Boris' preferences are unlikely to be realised.

 

Regardless of where you, or I, or Boris, would like to see him, neither you, nor I, nor he, are willing to commit to taking any action to putting him there in that condition.

 

C'est la vie, as I am sure he will say in the future.

[elliss]

1 hour ago, RuamRudy said:

 

 

A nice little quote from the thread I linked above: Boris Johnson is the first prime minister to have been found by a court to have misled a king or queen.

 

   The Tower awaits ...

 

[Amma09]

It's actually quite hilarious that his guy Alaxandra Pfeffled, or whatever his real name is, has never won a vote within British parliament. 

 

If Alexandra is the prime minister, why she is unable to win the votes of the people?

 

Silly stuff, I know.

[StreetCowboy]

1 hour ago, RuamRudy said:

...

EDIT: I have read a bit more regarding court supremacy and now seem more confused than ever. What I think (but very happy to be corrected if wrong) is that the Supreme Court is above all the courts in the land, but that they rule in accordance with the law of the court in question. Therefore the appeal to the Supreme Court will be that the Scots judges made an incorrect decision under Scots law. 

...

Someone who has learned something and changed their mind on the internet - surely a first!

[elliss]

17 minutes ago, Amma09 said:

It's actually quite hilarious that his guy Alaxandra Pfeffled, or whatever his real name is, has never won a vote within British parliament. 

 

If Alexandra is the prime minister, why she is unable to win the votes of the people?

 

Silly stuff, I know.

 Typo error , do you mean Alexandra ? , Post number 2..  I wont grouse about it .

  Welcome back.. 555

   

  

[kingdong]

1 hour ago, baboon said:

I would almost feel sorry for Johnson. But he is reaping what he sowed. He carped from the sidelines in order to get May out and secure the job for himself. Well now he has it, he must deliver and can't.

Now it his his turn to somehow have to placate the ERG, Farage, the DUP and the moderates in his own party. And the other half of the country who wish to Remain. Good luck with that. Oh, and with the Scots wanting the hell out of this debacle. 

You deserve it. Godspeed to that ditch.

Might find you remainers will be out the frying pan and into the fire when this fiasco ends