Today the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that Mr Johnson’s advice to the Queen to prorogue Parliament was unlawful and the subsequent Order in Council giving effect to it was unlawful, void and of no effect and should be quashed.
The Supreme Court found that the lawfulness of the Prime Minister’s advice to Her Majesty is justiciable, both as regards the existence and limits of a prerogative power. A decision to advise prorogation would be unlawful if the prorogation has the effect of frustrating or preventing, without reasonable justification, the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions as a legislature and as the body responsible for the supervision of the executive. This was the case here. This prolonged suspension of Parliamentary democracy took place in quite exceptional circumstances in the light of the fundamental change which was due to take place in the Constitution of the United Kingdom on 31st October.
Parliament reconvenes today, Wed 25 September.
Former Justice of the Supreme Court, Jonathan Sumption, today expressed the view, on the ‘Today’ programme, that enforcement of the Benn Act would be through proceedings being taken in the Courts and the Court appointing an individual to write the letter requesting an extension under article 50 on behalf of the Prime Minister.
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Professor Simon Baughen
Professor Simon Baughen was appointed as Professor of Shipping Law in September 2013 (previously Reader at the University of Bristol Law School). Simon Baughen studied law at Oxford and practised in maritime law for several years before joining academia. His research interests lie mainly in the field of shipping law, but also include the law of trusts and the environmental law implications of the activities of multinational corporations in the developing world. Simon's book on Shipping Law, has run to seven editions (soon to be eight) and is already well-known to academics and students alike as by far the most learned and approachable work on the subject. Furthermore, he is now the author of the very well-established practitioner's work Summerskill on Laytime. He has an extensive list of publications to his name, including International Trade and the Protection of the Environment, and Human Rights and Corporate Wrongs - Closing the Governance Gap. He has also written and taught extensively on commercial law, trusts and environmental law. Simon is a member of the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, a University Research Centre within the School of Law, and he currently teaches at Swansea on the LLM in:Carriage of Goods by Sea, Land and Air; Charterparties Law and Practice; International Corporate Governance.
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