Robert Peston Robert Peston

Will the Supreme Court end the prorogation of Parliament?

At the close of Supreme Court proceedings on Thursday, there was quite a lot of to and fro about what it would actually mean if the judges find the prime minister unlawfully misled the Queen when proroguing parliament.

Which was understandably interpreted by some knowledgeable observers as a signal that the judges may indeed find that Boris Johnson unlawfully prevented MPs from sitting at this critical time for the UK.

The big issue they have to decide is whether they have a locus at all, whether the PM’s use of the royal prerogative to send MPs home for five weeks is – in the jargon – justiciable, or an issue for any court.

The consensus among lawyers is that those arguing for the prosecution, Pannick and O’Neill, had the best of this argument.

And if they did, lawyers tell me it is open and shut that the judges will take the further step of finding that Johnson exercised the royal prerogative for an improper purpose; namely to prevent MPs and Lords from exercising their most important duty and function, scrutinising the PM (the executive branch of government) and legislating.

What then?

Well, the government’s submission to the court was that even if the Supreme Court finds Johnson acted beyond the law nothing actually changes – because the action of proroguing parliament is parliamentary procedure over which, according to the Bill of Rights, the courts have no reach.

Which inevitably outrages the plaintiffs, Gina Miller, the SNP and Sir John Major.

But the plaintiffs do not appear to have a clear position about whether a finding against Johnson should mean that in practice the prorogation never actually happened and the House is in fact still sitting (against the evidence of our eyes) – or whether there would need to be a new order in the Privy Council to summon back MPs.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Robert Peston
Written by
Robert Peston
Robert Peston is Political Editor of ITV News and host of the weekly political discussion show Peston. His articles originally appeared on his ITV News blog.

Topics in this article

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in