Opponents of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's bid to suspend Parliament have been denied an interim interdict at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
A group of 75 parliamentarians were seeking an interim interdict - similar to an injunction - at the Court of Session ahead of a full hearing.
READ MORE: Outcome of legal challenges to Parliament suspension to be revealed
This aimed at halting prorogation until a final decision has been made on the case.
But on Friday, Judge Lord Doherty dismissed the motion ahead of a full hearing next week.
READ MORE: Civil disobedience and strikes threatened in mass Brexit protests
Mr Johnson announced earlier this week that Parliament was being suspended for five weeks from mid September.
Lord Doherty said he was “not satisfied that it has been demonstrated that there’s a need for an interim suspension or an interim interdict to be granted at this stage.”
He said a substantive hearing was already set to place on Friday September 6 “before the first possible date parliament could be prorogued”.
But he brought that hearing forward to Tuesday September 3 “in the interest of justice”.
Aiden O’Neill QC, representing those for the action, had argued for the substantive hearing to be moved forward.
He said: “There is an urgency to this – any delay is prejudicial – not just to the prejudice of the petitioners, but to the country as a whole.”
Lord Doherty said: “I’m going to move the substantive hearing forward to Tuesday.
“Weighing consideration in the balance, it’s in the interest of justice that it proceeds sooner rather than later.”
The decision came after the Queen approved Mr Johnson’s request for Parliament to be suspended for five weeks.
On Thursday, the judge heard arguments from a lawyer for the campaigners – led by SNP MP Joanna Cherry QC and Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson and aided by Jo Maugham of the Good Law Project – and from a legal representative for the UK Government.
Mr O’Neill QC urged the court to step in and stop the suspension of Parliament, arguing it would prevent an “abusive” and “unconstitutional” use of government powers.
However, Roddy Dunlop QC, representing the UK Government, called on the judge to reject the request, as the Queen has already prorogued Parliament and there is “no reason” to have an interim decision on such an important matter.
Responding to Lord Doherty’s decision on Friday, a government spokesperson said: “As we have set out, the government needs to bring forward a strong domestic legislative agenda and MPs are not prevented from scrutinising our withdrawal from the EU.
“We are glad the court found against the interdict – there was no good reason to seek one, given the full hearing is due to take place next week, and the process of bringing the session to an end will not start until the week commencing September 9.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel