United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum
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The British Parliament will meet again on Wednesday. This was announced by the President of the House of Commons John Bercow in London. Shortly before, the British Supreme Court declared the Parliament's five-week forced break imposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson unlawful and repealed it with immediate effect.
The UK Supreme Court ruled that the forced break prevented MEPs from exercising their constitutional mandate in an "extreme" manner, as Presiding Judge Lady Brenda Hale stated at the verdict. However, Parliament has a right to have a voice in the run-up to an important event such as the planned withdrawal from the European Union on 31 October.
Johnson's order to open the parliament of Queen Elizabeth II was a "white sheet of paper," Hale said. "Parliament is not suspended, that's the unanimous verdict of all eleven judges."
In video: Supreme Court declares compulsory break inadmissible
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It is now up to Parliament, and especially to the President of the two chambers, to decide what happens next. If there are no rules that speak against it, immediate action may be taken to meet again "as soon as possible".
Lower House President Bercow welcomed the verdict: "As the embodiment of our parliamentary democracy, the lower house must meet immediately."
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According to Hale, this is a one-time case that has never happened under these circumstances and "that will probably never happen again".
Unlike Germany, Britain has no constitution in a single document. Instead, it consists of a whole series of laws, court decisions and conventions. The Constitution continues to evolve through legislation or new interpretations of existing rules and is adapted to new circumstances.
Sometimes, therefore, a political constitution is mentioned. Nevertheless, the judges disagreed with the Government's view that the judiciary was not competent in the present case.
