{"id":219952,"date":"2019-09-24T18:00:32","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T12:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=219952"},"modified":"2019-10-04T12:20:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T06:50:00","slug":"uk-sc-prime-ministers-advice-for-prorogation-of-parliament-declared-unlawful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2019\/09\/24\/uk-sc-prime-ministers-advice-for-prorogation-of-parliament-declared-unlawful\/","title":{"rendered":"UK SC | Prime Minister\u2019s advice for “Prorogation of Parliament” declared unlawful"},"content":{"rendered":"

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom: <\/strong>The 11-Judge Bench of Lady Hale (President) and Lord Reed (Deputy President), Lord Kerr, Lord Wilson, Lord Carnwath, Lord Hodge, Lady Black, Lord Lloyd-Jones, lady Arden, Lord Kitchin and Lord Sales, while explaining the meaning of \u201cProrogation of Parliament\u201d <\/strong>held that the suspension of the Parliament by Her Majesty for a period of 5 weeks on Prime Minister\u2019s advice was unlawful and thus null and of no effect.<\/p>\n

In the present Judgment it has been emphasized that the issue is not when and on what terms the United Kingdom is to leave the European Union, in fact, the issue is:<\/p>\n

\u00a0Whether the advice is given by the Prime Minister to Her Majesty the Queen on 27th<\/sup> or 28th<\/sup> August, 2019 that Parliament should be prorogued from a date between 9th<\/sup> and 12th<\/sup> September until 14th<\/sup> October was lawful.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Bench explained the essence and meaning of \u201cProrogation\u201d. Prorogation of Parliament brings the current session to an end. While Parliament is prorogued, neither House can meet, debate and pass legislation. In general, Bills which have not yet completed all their stages are lost and will have to start again from scratch in the next session of Parliament.<\/p>\n

Parliament does not decide when it should be prorogued, as this is a prerogative power exercised by the Crown on the advice of the Privy Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder current practice, a proclamation is made by Order in Council a few days before the actual prorogation, specifying a range of days within which Parliament may be prorogued and the date on which the prorogation would end. The Lord Chancellor prepares a commission under the great seal instructing the Commissioners accordingly. On the day chosen for the prorogation, the Commissioners enter the House of Lords; the House of Commons is summoned; the command of the monarch appointing the Commission is read; and Parliament is formally prorogued.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

On August 28th, 2019 Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg, Lord President of the (Privy) Council and Leader of the House of Commons, Baroness Evans of Bowes Park, Leader of the House of Lords, and Mr Mark Spencer, Chief Whip attended a meeting of the Privy Council held by the Queen. Order in Council was made ordering that:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Parliament be prorogued on a day no earlier than Monday the 9th<\/sup> day of September and no later than Thursday the 12th<\/sup> day of September2019 to Monday the 14th<\/sup> day of October 2019\u201d and that the Lord Chancellor \u201cdo cause a Commission to be prepared and issued in the usual manner for proroguing the Parliament accordingly.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

As soon as the prorogation was announced, Gina Miller launched proceedings in the High Court in England and Wales, seeking a declaration that the Prime Minister\u2019s advice to her Majesty was unlawful. Divisional Court dismissed the claim on the ground that the issue was not justiciable. They granted a \u201cleap-frog\u201d certificate so that the case could come directly to this Court.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Supreme Court heard the appeals and noted the following four issues that arose:<\/p>\n