Constitutional Innovation in the Supreme Court

Abstract

1. On 28 August 2019, the Queen in Council made an Order proroguing Parliament from, at the earliest, 9 September until 14 October. Concerned that the prorogation was devised to prevent any attempt in Parliament to amend the date on which the UK would leave the EU, two distinct groups of litigants commenced proceedings in Edinburgh and London to have the prorogation overturned. The Court of Session ultimately found for the petitioners, but a three-judge Divisional Court of the Queen’s Bench Division in London could not be persuaded to make the sought-after order.