R (on the application of Miller) (Appellant) v The Prime Minister (Respondent)

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Case summary

Case ID

UKSC/2019/0192

Parties

Appellant(s)

Gina Miller

Respondent(s)

The Prime Minister

Intervener(s)

The Lord Advocate on behalf of the Scottish Government

Raymond McCord

Counsel General for Wales

Sir John Major KG, CH

Baroness Chakrabarti CBE, PC

Public Law Project

Issue

1) Whether the decision of the Prime Minister to advise Her Majesty the Queen to prorogue Parliament is justiciable in the courts; and 2) If the decision is justiciable and the appeal is not academic, whether that advice was lawful.

Facts

On 31 October 2019 the United Kingdom is scheduled to leave the European Union, following the notification of its intention to withdraw pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. On 28 August 2019, on the advice of the Prime Minister, Her Majesty the Queen made an Order in Council providing that Parliament be prorogued on a day no earlier than 9 September 2019 and no later than 12 September 2019, until Monday 14 October 2019. The Prime Minister issued a press release stating that the purpose of the prorogation was to introduce a new legislative programme to Parliament at a Queen's Speech to take place on 14 October 2019. Parliament was subsequently prorogued on 9 September 2019. The appellant issued proceedings for judicial review on the grounds that the Prime Minister's decision to advise Her Majesty to prorogue Parliament was an abuse of power and beyond the proper constitutional limits of the common law prerogative of prorogation.