On 24 January 2017 the Supreme Court handed down judgment in R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2017] UKSC 5. It held by a majority of 8-3 that primary legislation was required to authorise the issuing of a notification under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union by the Government. That Article 50 notification will formally commence the process of the UK withdrawing from its membership of the EU. Unanimously, the Supreme Court also held that the devolved legislatures of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have no veto on the decision to withdraw, and that the Sewel Convention is not legally enforceable.
The litigation has routinely been described as the most constitutionally important case of recent times. The judgment is available here, and the Court’s press summary of the decision is available here.
Jason Coppel KC, Tom Cross and Christopher Knight appeared in the Divisional Court and the Supreme Court on behalf of the Secretary of State.
