Supreme Court rules approval of Parliament needed to trigger Article 50

In a landmark constitutional law ruling, the Supreme Court today held (by a majority of 8 to 3) that the UK Government cannot trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union without an Act of Parliament authorising it to do so: R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the EU [2017] UKSC 5.

The ruling confirms the victory of the claimants, who had been successful last November before a Divisional Court of the High Court. The case was appealed directly to the Supreme Court by the Government, leapfrogging the Court of Appeal, and was heard over four days in December 2016. The constitutional importance of the issue and today's judgment is accentuated by the fact the appeal was heard by the full bench of eleven Justices. For more information, please see our Brexit e-bulletin published today.