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.
“OUEEN’S DECISION IS UNLAWFUL”
“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.
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.”