The People’s Challenge Written Case – fundamental citizenship rights protected by four hundred years of legal precedent

This morning, the People’s Challenge solicitors filed the 20 comb-bound copies of our Written Case required by the Supreme Court for next week’s hearing.The Case is herein electronic form, published first on Crowd Justice  and distributed to our supporters.

The document runs to 39 pages  and is supported by  dozens of cited cases and  other legal materials  which form part of 35 volumes of material  submitted to the Court’s Justices, a total of more than 14000 pages.  The case is the most document-heavy the Supreme Court has ever dealt with.

Despite that,  the work on the Written Case and the end product has needed to be disciplined and focused.  We were under strict instructions from the Court’s President, Lord Neuberger,  to avoid duplicating what the lawyers for other parties, especially Gina Miller were saying. Her team’s excellent Written Case is here. There have also been powerfully argued submissions filed by many others, including  the Welsh and Scottish governments and the lawyers acting in the Northern Irish cases, Agnew, McCord and others. We will include links to these in a later update, subject to being permitted to publish them.

Notwithstanding this,the People’s Challenge case covers four of the most important issues that arise in the appeal.

First, it confronts head-on the Government’s argument that  the Royal Prerogative can be used to take away rights (whether they are created by Acts of Parliament or common law) unless an Act of Parliament  expressly prohibits that happening.  This is the wrong legal starting point.The Government has to show that the Prerogative  is available for use in the context of  withdrawing from the EU – and it cannot.

This is backed up by the second  part of the Written Case  which reviews four centuries of case law on the use of the Prerogative in this context.  That shows that there is no trace of the Courts  allowing the law of the land to be altered by the Prerogative since the Bill of Rights prohibited it, but also that the judiciary have repeatedly put a stop to this being attempted by government bodies.

One graphic example comes from the 1931 case,  King v The London County Council.There a local authority had granted a licence on ‘nod and a wink’terms that demonstrated its officers would not enforce a statute, the Sunday Observance Act, 1780. Lord Justice Scrutton observed:

… One is rather tempted to inquire whether the Theatres Committee of the London County Council have ever heard of the Bill of Rights. James II lost his throne, and one of the causes of it was that he took upon himself to dispense with the operation of Acts of Parliament, without the consent of Parliament.”

The third part of the Case is backed up by a meticulously researched Annex that catalogues fundamental and non-replicable EU citizenship rights. It explains precisely why the Prerogative can never be used to extinguish or abrogate those rights because they are granted to UK Citizens by our Parliament.

Last, the Written Case tackles the argument that the European Communities Act 1972 itself somehow cut down Parliament’s future role in protecting UK citizens. That’s clearly wrong. Though the Government didn’t argue that the Parliament that passed the 1972 Act bound that of today (which would breach a long-established constitutional convention), the effect of its argument succeeding would be the same.

We should hear from the Court very soon about how much time our lead barrister, Helen Mountfield QC  will have to develop these arguments  during the hearing.

Posted in Article 50, brexit, Supreme Court | Tagged , ,

The devolution dimension, unpacking the Government’s appeal case and the new EEA challenge

The Government faced an interesting choice in the aftermath of the Divisional Court’s unanimous and powerful ruling that it had no Royal Prerogative power to invoke Article 50.

Seeking a resolution or some other vote of both Houses would have been a non-starter (because only another statute could overwrite the 1972 European Communities Act), but one option was to humbly accept that it had misunderstood its powers and seek Parliament’s authority with a short Bill that could have been some way through the Parliamentary process by now.

It would, of course,have been for MPs to debate the contents of that Bill – and some of the trickier issues it would need to tackle, such as the position of the devolved governments (see below).

The alternative was to‘double down’ and take up the suggestion made by Lord Leveson at last July’s directions hearing of an appeal fast-tracked straight to the UK’s Supreme Court. This is, of course, what the Government did. It may now be wondering about the wisdom of that choice, even though it gave short shrift to a plea by senior Tory heavyweights to withdraw its appeal as the hearing approached.

One reason for that is that the devolution issues first raised by the People’s Challenge group were considered but not determined by the Divisional Court but cannot now be avoided.

That is partly because of the interventions of the Welsh and Scottish Governments, but even more importantly in terms of the scope of the appeal, the decisions of the Northern Irish courts to refer five questions of law to be decided at the same time as the Government’s Miller appeal:(1) does the Northern Ireland Act 1998 read together with the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement) and the British-Irish Agreement mean an Act of Parliament is required before Article 50 can be invoked?; (2) if so, is the consent of the Northern Ireland Assembly required first?; (3) if not, does the 1998 Act read together with the Belfast Agreement and the British-Irish Agreement operate as any form of restriction on the exercise of the prerogative?; (4) does section 75 of the 1998 Act prevent the prerogative power being exercised to invoke Article 50(2) before equality consequences are assessed; and (5) does the exercise of the prerogative power without the consent of the people of Northern Ireland impede section 1 of the 1998 Act – the constitutional cornerstone of the current devolution arrangements and the mechanism for any future referendum on a united Ireland?

These are serious and important question and similar issues arise in Scotland and Wales.They are important because EU law forms part of the mortar of the UK’s devolution arrangements – allowing rights to be enforced against the devolved governments and imposing EU obligations on them,none of which could be replicated in a Great Repeal Bill. To take one example, the British-Irish Agreement creates institutions responsible for implementing EU-funded cross-border initiatives which become meaningless if Northern Ireland is part of a state no longer bound by EU law. This doesn’t mean that Northern Ireland’s special circumstances and constitutional arrangements ‘block Brexit’. But it does mean that those arrangements have to be dismantled, very carefully, by Parliament.

The Government has yet to reveal its strategy to counter these arguments but, as noted in an earlier update, it has published its written arguments (the ‘Written Case’ or ‘Printed Case’ in Supreme Court-speak) in support of its appeal. There is no new argument that the 2015 Referendum Act empowers ministers in law, nor any attempt to persuade the court that the decision on Art 50 is so“polycentric” that the courts should not decide the case (the‘hands off’ argument that got nowhere in the Divisional Court).

Instead, the ‘new and improved’ argument is that “…acts of the Government in the exercise of the prerogative can alter domestic law”, that this is possible unless Parliament has created and clearly marked out statutory ‘no go’ areas for prerogative-wielding ministers. The European Communities Act created the opposite, the Government argues:it functions as a ‘conduit’ through which the products of international negotiations at an EU level can pass into UK law and be enjoyed by UK nationals. But the conduit works both ways, it argues:if the Government decides that an international agreement should be ended and acts accordingly – here by invoking Article 50 to leave the EU – rights may be taken away through the same ‘conduit’.So EU rights are not solid, reliable or permanent in a legal sense –they are ‘ambulatory’, always in flux and dependent on what the Government of the day agrees with other states “from time to time”.

This is a staggering proposition and has implications that go far beyond this case.

Suppose the government is right. EU citizenship rights enjoyed for decades, that most UK nationals were born with, can be stripped away without any Parliamentary involvement at all. The logic of the Government’s case is that this could have been done if there had been no EU Referendum, or even if majority of votes cast had been in favour of remaining.

But this argument does not, and cannot, stop at the stripping away of EU rights. Any right that was not protected by Parliamentary ‘stop’ signs in an Act of Parliament could be stripped away just as easily from UK citizens,from common law rights to privacy or property through to rights to access the courts and confidential legal advice. The implications are more than unsettling; they are horrifying.

Fortunately, there are many reasons why this is not the law which will be set out in the People’s Challenge case later today, but here are two of the most important.

First, UK citizens do not have to show that Parliament has created a reserved area where their and others’ EU rights can be enjoyed. The right starting point is to inquire whether the Government can show any precedent for use of the prerogative to dispense with citizens’ rights. As Lord Bingham said in Bancoult(No 2) [w]hen the existence or effect of the royal prerogative is in question the courts must conduct an historical enquiry to ascertain whether there is any precedent for the exercise of the power in the given circumstances. ‘If it is law, it will be found in our books.  If it is not to be found there,it is not law’” The ‘books’ would have to be very old ones to support the Government’s true case because the Bill of Rights was drafted to protect against precisely this kind of prerogative-based power grab – as were the Scottish equivalents,the Acts of Union.

Secondly, the European Communities Act cannot plausibly be interpreted as an executive-empowering instrument rather than a rights-granting one.Parliament did not, in some express or implied way surrender to the Crown its own power to control the scope of the EU law, and indeed the EU Treaties, from time to time. The point of the Act was to take us into the European Communities (and later the Union), not to take us in or out as the executive pleases in a game of international hokey-kokey. And as for EU law being ‘ambulatory’, the People’s Challenge case will show that it is anything but: EU rights are fundamental and irreplaceable.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that the Government faces a further challenge,this time based on the EEA agreement which, it is said, will continued to apply to the UK even if Article 50 is invoked. That is very likely right in law – the UK is a party to the agreement in its own right as well as through the EU. But by itself it is unlikely to provide much of a safety net because, like the EU, the UK can give notice and leave. The Miller appeal will likely decide how that can be done. Whether it should leave the EEA will, if the appeal fails, be for Parliamentarians, not the Courts to decide.

Posted in Article 50, brexit, Supreme Court | Tagged , ,

Art. 50 – Government’s Written Case in support of its appeal

As mentioned in Thursday’s update, the Government has agreed to make its Case available to the public. It can now be read here.

The Government’s Case maintains that an Article 50 notification cannot be withdrawn, adding that the Court can deal with the appeal without having to decide that issue definitively. It does not claim the Referendum was binding or gave it any new power to invoke Article 50, a point conceded during the Divisional Court hearing. There is also now no suggestion that the Courts lack jurisdiction to decide the case.

But there are many subtle shifts of emphasis and new points taken. Most significantly, an argument only raised briefly in the Divisional Court – that EU Citizenship rights are similar to those agreed at an international level in ‘double taxation’ treaties – is now front and centre. The Government argues the European Communities Act 1972 is an ‘ambulatory’ or ‘conduit’ Act of this kind. It says that, when the 1972 Act was passed, Parliament must have intended ministers could use the Royal Prerogative to negotiate and reach agreements with other European states that would grant rights to UK nationals – or strip them away altogether – without further Parliamentary authority or control and that section 2(1) of the Act would be the ‘conduit’ through which they became part of UK law, or were removed from it.

Our team are already analysing this and other points so they can be forcefully countered in our own case. A further update from them next week will unpack the Government’s Case in more detail.

Meanwhile, a group of Conservative MPs has argued that the Government should withdraw its appeal and submit to Parliamentary control and scrutiny. It seems most unlikely that this will happen –the written case shows the government is determined to make its last stand on its Royal Prerogative arguments.

Posted in Article 50, brexit, Supreme Court | Tagged , ,

The People’s Challenge – The path to the Supreme Court

John Halford, People’s Challenge solicitor

The UK’s Supreme Court was opened in 2009 replacing the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords  as part of a package of constitutional reforms.  It is housed in a grand building on Parliament Square facing the Houses of Parliament and a short walk from the Westminster-based ministries that include David Davis’ Department for Exiting the European Union. This geography is a permanent reminder that Parliamentarians make the law, the Court independently interprets and applies it and government must answer to both.

In just over two weeks, on 5 December, Mr Davis’ lawyers will argue that the invocation of Article 50 is a special case, that his powers to take this step do not come from Parliament, or any Act, but rather the Crown in the form of the Royal Prerogative. There will not be a new argument from them that the EU Referendum was binding and so a source of legal power. Nor will the government argue, its announcements indicate, that an Article 50 notification can be withdrawn if there is Parliamentary intervention at some later date.  So far all the signs are that the government will maintain very similar arguments to those it presented to the Divisional Court.

It might be thought, then, that the Supreme Court hearing will be a premature remake of the drama that unfolded in Court 4 just a few weeks ago. But that would be wrong.  There will be many differences, all calling for careful and hard work by the People’s Challenge legal team, the Claimants’ lawyers and others arguing the Divisional Court was right in holding Mr Davis has to seek power to invoke Article 50 from his fellow MPs in the House, rather than the Palace.

First, both the Scottish and Welsh governments have been given permission to ‘intervene’ to develop the devolution arguments originally raised by the People’s Challenge team from their own perspectives. Both will argue that the devolution arrangements are a further constitutional bulwark against invocation of Article 50 that only and Act of Parliament can dismantle. And, very appropriately, five key devolution questions that are particular to Northern Ireland have been referred to the Court by the Northern Irish Court of Appeal so that they can be considered at the same time as the appeal in Miller and others.  The arguments on Northern Ireland will be presented by the Agnew and McCord legal teams and defended by the government. Northern Ireland’s Attorney General may also make an appearance.

Secondly, many other interventions are being attempted. Two have already been granted permission – those by Fair Deal for Expats (who were involved in the Divisional Court) and from Independent Workers Union of Great Britain. Decisions on others, including one from the pro-leave Lawyers for Britain group, are pending decisions on permission.

All of this will make for a busy hearing. The Court has yet to decide how long each party’s barristers will be allowed to speak – or whether interveners’ barristers as will have the opportunity to speak at all.

And this in turn makes the next step that needs to be taken in the case particularly important. That is for each party and permitted intervener to meticulously prepare their ‘written cases’ – the arguments developing their own positions in the light of what the Divisional Court held and responding to what others have to say.

Work on the People’s Challenge written case is already well underway and a first draft has been circulated amongst the team, enlarged today to include David Gregory who is undertaking further research and analysis on EU rights issues.

The government’s own Written Case has just been served and we will circulate it as soon as it is published. Ms Miller and Mr Dos Santos have until next Friday to file their Written Cases. We have until Tuesday 29 November to file our own.

Supporting these documents will be dozens of comb-bound volumes of statutes, cases, academic articles and other legal material which will also be produced in electronic form for the more technologically savvy. The Supreme Court justices judicial assistants will be looking at much of this material already.

We already know that the Supreme Court takes this case as seriously as it should.  All 11 currently serving justices will hear it – an unprecedented step for the Court. One, Lady Hale, has spoken about the difficult and delicate issues it raises, prompting controversy and even suggestions that she should recuse herself. These are misplaced. Her comments simply identify some of the obvious challenges the case presents for the Court – and will present for Parliament if the appeal is dismissed. They are a very long way away from anything that would cause a fair-minded observer to believe she was biased.

Along with the parties, their lawyers, the Court’s Justices,  press and the  members of the public who arrive early enough to  be admitted to the hearing, the path the Supreme Court is  apparently also going to be walked by Nick Farage and 100,000 supporters to “remind the Government, politicians and the establishment, including the court, that they cannot ignore the democratic vote of the people in the referendum.”

But this is a drama that has a class not of thousands, but millions, 65 million UK citizens to be precise – and many other EU nationals living here in the UK too. All eyes will be on the Court (which will broadcast proceedings live). Many will be hopeful that it will make sure the protection of their rights remains the responsibility of those sitting in Parliament  just opposite the court, and is not handed over to Mr Davis and his civil servants down the road.

Posted in Article 50, brexit, Supreme Court | Tagged , ,

Art. 50 Supreme Court Defence funding target met – Thank you

We are delighted to report to supporters that on the 15th we met our fundraising ‘stretch target’ and are confident that we have sufficient funds to cover the costs of our legal team in the Supreme Court, other expenses and to make a reasonable provision for a share of the Government’s legal costs being awarded against us personally, in the unlikely event that the appeal succeeds.

We are therefore closing the fundraising campaign and will only reopen it if something unforeseen happens which means we need more funds to champion UK Citizens’ rights in the case.

We will send out another update soon explaining the steps that need to be taken between now and the four-day hearing arranged in the Supreme Court from 5 December 2016 onwards, who is now involved and what our team is working on.

For now though, the most important thing is for us to offer our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported and sustained us so far in fighting for Parliamentary control and accountability.

Chris, Fergal, Grahame, Paul, Rob & Tahmid.

Posted in Article 50, brexit, Supreme Court | Tagged , ,

People’s Challenge – Developments in Parliament and the Supreme Court

We had planned to post a detailed update yesterday on our new CrowdJustice campaign page, but events have been very fast-moving and we’ve needed to take stock of them. This is just a snapshot with more detail and analysis to follow.

First, yesterday saw a Government statement and debate in the Commons about the Divisional Court’s decision. More on this to follow, but the key points to note are that the Government continues to accept, rightly, that the extent of its powers needs to be determined by the courts and that the courts’ decisions must be respected, however ‘disappointing’ they may be. This is important because a number of bloggers have continued to argue that the courts had no business in hearing the case at all.

The Government also appears to accept that, if the Royal Prerogative cannot lawfully be used to take the UK out of the EU, only an Act of Parliament will do.

Secondly, the Supreme Court has, unsurprisingly but very quickly, granted the Government permission to make its ‘leapfrog’ appeal which will be heard from 5 December 2016, most likely over the following four days. The Scottish and Welsh Governments both plan to intervene and Nicola Sturgeon has made it clear that she fully supports the Divisional Court decision.

There are also press reports that Leave.EU may intervene, though to do so it will need to persuade the Supreme Court it ought to be granted permission to make submissions in the public interest.

As far as we know, all the parties represented in the Divisional Court will continue to be involved. It is not yet clear whether the Northern Ireland High Court will allow a leapfrog appeal from Maguire J’s decision to be heard along with the Miller and others litigation.

On funding, we are now very close to our stretch target thanks to the sustained support over the last few days. Thank you again. We have asked the Government to agree a ‘reciprocal costs cap’ as was agreed in the Court below, so we should soon have certainty on how much we need to budget for to cover a share of Government costs in the highly unlikely event its appeal succeed.

Posted in Article 50, People's Challenge | Tagged ,

An enormous thank you and this is where our Challenge is up to

Fantastically, we have made not only our initial target, but our first stretch target for the relaunched campaign, in just over 24 hours.

Our legal team now has really solid backing for the work they will need to do to defend yesterday’s victory against the Government’s appeal.

You have really staggered us with your support and generosity, all of which are a welcome change from the abuse and nonsense from some quarters.

We will be leaving the our new Crowd Justice campaign running with a revised stretch target of £150,000 which will almost certainly be sufficient for all work connected with the appeal and protection against government costs.

We want to ensure that we are in the very best position to protect people’s rights against the Government’s attempted power grab.

We will update you on Monday with a final budget, but every pledge will be used wisely and effectively to defend both individuals’ rights and Parliamentary Sovereignty.

Thank you once again,

Chris, Fergal, Grahame, Paul, Rob and Tahmid

Posted in Article 50, brexit, High Court | Tagged , ,

Article 50 – the judgment in a nutshell

This went out as an update on our new Crowd Justice camapign page yesterday evening.

On 20 September 1610, Sir Edward Coke, the then Chief Justice, was asked to give a ruling on whether the King could use a Royal Proclamation to suspend an Act of Parliament that had authorised merchants’ trading activities in London. He identified the case as one “of great importance” because it concerned the accountability of “the king to the Commons”. Coke then ruled that the Royal Prerogative could not be used in this way to override rights Parliament had granted.

This morning, 416 years later, Court 4 was packed with lawyers, journalists and members public many of were wondering whether Coke’s successor, the current Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, was about to defend Parliamentary Sovereignty in a similarly courageous way. And minutes later he, the Master of the Rolls and Lord Justice Sales, did just that in a unanimous judgment. The ‘summary of the summary’ was simply this: “the most fundamental rule of the UK constitution is that parliament is sovereign”.

The Court went on to note that all parties in the case agreed the 2016 EU Referendum was advisory only and so had no effect on government powers or those of Parliament. The Referendum was important politically, of course, but had no effect in law. Instead, as revealed in thefull judgment (R (Miller and Others) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2016] EWHC 2768 (Admin)), the Court’s focus was very much on the impact invoking Article 50 would have on ordinary peoples’ rights.

On that, the claimants, interested parties including the People’s Challenge group, and the interveners had also agreed with the Government that withdrawal from the EU by Article 50 would affect UK citizens’ rights that could not be replicated following UK departure from the EU (such as rights to vote, complain to the Commission or to seek a ruling from an EU institution) along with the rights they can exercise in other EU countries (such as free movement and access to health care). The Government had also accepted Article 50, once invoked, could not be reversed.

It followed, said the Court, that triggering Article 50 would inevitably strip away rights with no realistic prospect of Parliament restoring them. Critically, these were rights that had been granted through Acts of Parliament, starting with the European Communities Act 1972. It would be “surprising” if they could be removed by prerogative power, especially given the strong constitutional presumption that Parliament does not, unless it says so expressly, intend the government to have power to change the law of the land using the prerogative. That was a particularly strong presumption here given the importance and scale of the rights at issue. Drawing on a metaphor used by the People’s Challenge QC, Helen Mountfield, in her submissions, the Court observed, that having ‘switched on’ EU law in the UK using a series of statutes, it was implausible that Parliament had anticipated the government could use the Royal Prerogative to “switch it off again”. The proper interpretation of the 1972 Act, informed by constitutional principle, was that the Royal Prerogative had been excluded by incorporation of EU law into UK law.

The Court said it was not necessary to deal with the arguments raised about the Act of Union 1707 but, taking account of points made by the People’s Challenge in their submissions about the special position of devolved nations including Northern Ireland, cast doubt on last week’s judgment of Maguire J in the Belfast High Court. Maguire J will hear an application next week seeking permission to appeal from his own judgment direct to the Supreme Court.

And that is where the Miller case is also headed: Lord Thomas issued a certificate allowing a ‘leapfrog’ appeal from today’s ruling which will be heard by the Supreme Court early in December.

The People’s Challenge remains an interested party and so is entitled to be involved. The three good reasons for it to be involved in this litigation, backed by thousands of crowd funders, remain. So preparations are already underway to defend today’s judgement – and in turn Parliamentary sovereignty – at that hearing. But the importance of today’s ruling cannot be overstated. Lord Coke would be proud, not only of the judges that have followed in his footsteps, but that ordinary UK citizens were able to contribute to the case that made that possible.

By John Hallford, Bindmans LLP

Posted in Article 50, brexit, High Court | Tagged , ,

People’s Challenge salutes Divisional Court as “guardians of parliamentary democracy”

In a landmark decision today, the Divisional Court upheld a judicial review brought by Gina Miller, Dier Dos Santos, the People’s Challenge and others and ruled that the Government cannot use the Royal Prerogative to leave the EU by triggering Article 50.

The Court’s judgment means that the process must be subject to full parliamentary control and oversight. But the government is pursuing an appeal which must be resisted.

The People’s Challenge group has therefore opened a new CrowdJustice campaign in order to raise the money urgently required to defend Parliamentary sovereignty against the government’s appeal which is likely to be heard in early December 2016 by the UK’s Supreme Court.

Thanks to almost 5000 people supporting the People’s Challenge group via Crowd Justice,the interested parties who successfully argued the claim should be allowed included ex pats Grahame and Rob Pigney, Paul Cartwright, a Gibraltarian national who runs Brex-IN, Christopher Formaggia who lives in Wales, Tahmid Chowdhury, a London student and Fergal McFerran, president of the NUS-USI based in Belfast.

Grahame Pigney said today:

We welcome this decision, which clearly establishes the UK’s Parliament as the sovereign authority in terms of the decisions required following the Referendum on 23rd June. The alternative would have meant a horrifying executive power grab that has no place in a modern democracy.

We started this challenge in order to protect parliamentary sovereignty and the rights of millions of UK Citizens; the Court’s decision has justified our action. Hopefully the debate on and passing of primary legislation by Parliament will result in a more positive and less divisive way forward for the UK.  

We also take pride in our judges, who have shown themselves to be true guardians of parliamentary democracy through this judgment. 

The Government will no doubt appeal. It can expect us to defend our position with the same vigour and commitment as we brought to bear when arguing the case in the Divisional Court.”

Rob Pigney said:

The People’s Challenge has made a decisive contribution to the success of this case in the Divisional Court. Our backers have been fully vindicated. Although it is doubtful that the Government is going to abandon its ambitions altogether, I feel confident in quoting one of my heroes and saying ‘Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is,  perhaps, the end of the beginning.’”

Our solicitor John Halford of Bindmans LLP said:

The oversight, control and democratic accountability needed for decisions on Brexit have to match the consequences of those decisions for UK citizens. That is why our constitution empowers Parliament, not the government, to take these decisions. The People’s Challenge group and thousands of backers unhesitatingly committed to defending Parliament’s sovereignty. They have prevailed so far and will resist the anticipated government appeal in the Supreme Court.”

As before, during the Supreme Court stage, the group will provide regular updates on the progress of the preparations for the Court hearing, the hearing itself and the funding campaign.

Later today there will be an update on the group’s Crowd Justice pages giving an analysis of the Divisional Court’s decision.

Posted in Article 50, brexit, High Court | Tagged , ,

People’s Challenge: Divisional Court – Judgement Day

Judgment in the Article 50 challenge will be handed down at 10am, tomorrow 3rd November 2016 in Court Room 4. An appeal by the losing party or parties, ‘leapfrogged’ direct to the Supreme Court to be heard early in December, is very likely.

The People Challenge will be launching a new fundraising appeal tomorrow to cover our lawyers’ costs and other expenses associated with us participating in an appeal as interested parties – we consider it is vital that ordinary people’s EU citizenship rights continue to be defended in this incredibly important case.

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