Scotland’s highest civil court is to hear arguments over whether the Prime Minister can be forced to extend Article 50.
The legal action – led by businessman Vince Dale, SNP MP Joanna Cherry QC and Jolyon Maugham QC – will ask the Court of Session to require Boris Johnson to seek an extension to avoid leaving the EU without a deal.
It could also later see a court official being given the power to sign the letter if the Prime Minister refuses to do so.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson says Brexit offer is 'genuine attempt to bridge the chasm' with EU
The court case also seeks to establish what might happen if he refuses to act, and if jail could be an option in that scenario.
The so-called Benn Act was passed by Parliament last month requiring the Government to ask for an extension until January 31 if an agreement is not reached with the EU by October 19.
Opponents to no-deal are suspicious the Prime Minister will try to thwart the legislation in order to fulfil his vow to leave the EU on October 31 “do or die”.
Ms Cherry said: “Like much of what Boris Johnson says, there is a gulf of truth between the obvious facts of the matter and what he and his Government have been saying.
“He cannot be trusted, and this court action is about ensuring he abides by the law.
READ MORE: Irish say Boris Johnson's plan 'not even remotely' acceptable
“If Boris Johnson tries to defy the law and defy both the Holyrood and Westminster parliaments by crashing out of the EU without a deal – then we are calling on the Scottish courts to uphold the law.”
Ms Cherry previously won a Supreme Court case against the Government which found the planned prorogation of Parliament until October 14 was unlawful.
The Outer House court hearing on Friday will seek an order to ensure Mr Johnson requests an extension to the Article 50 process if he refuses to abide by the terms of the Benn Act.
READ MORE: Ian McConnell - Boris Johnson acts the goat on Brexit as the grim cost keeps on rising
It will go to the Inner House on Tuesday, where campaigners will ask the Scottish judges to use the unique power of “nobile officium” to empower a court official to sign the extension letter if the Prime Minister refuses to do so.
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