Can Boris Johnson can legally suspend Parliament ?
In more legal shenanigans, MPs determined to thwart Brexit have asked a Scottish Court to decide whether Boris Johnson can suspend Parliament to force through Brexit.
The Court of Session, in Scotland, has agreed to a fast-tracked hearing on whether Boris Johnson can legally suspend (prorogue) Parliament.
At a preliminary hearing Lord Doherty agreed to expedite the timetable for the legal challenge to take place, setting the date for the substantive hearing as Friday 6 September 2019.
A petition which has signatures from 70 MPs from the House of Commons and 5 members of the House of Lords was presented to the court requesting a
Judicial review on the vires of Ministers of the Crown to advise the Queen to prorogue the Westminster Parliament
A copy of the original petition to the court is available:
Petition for Judicial Review (pdf)
It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case and whether/how it will affect further proceedings in the House of Commons.
Notes:
Prorogation of Parliament
Prorogation is the means (otherwise than by dissolution) by which a Parliamentary session is brought to an end.
It is a prerogative power exercised by the Crown on the advice of the Privy Council. In practice this process has been a formality in the UK for more than a century: the Government of the day advises the Crown to prorogue and that request is acquiesced to.
More information can be found in a House of Commons Library Briefing Paper at
https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-8589
and
