UK Supreme Court Rules Boris Johnson's Pre-Brexit Parliament Suspension Unlawful

The Supreme Court of the U.K. has declared that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's suspension of Parliament is unlawful.

The Tuesday ruling is a huge blow to Johnson, as the Supreme Court has now cleared the way for Parliament to reconvene immediately and resume debating his Brexit plans.

The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in the U.K. for civil and criminal cases, and hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the British population.

Supreme Court President Lady Hale said the court's decision was unanimous, adding that the court can rule on the prorogation of Parliament. The prorogation is now “null and void,” and therefore Parliament has not been suspended.

Eleven Supreme Court justices heard arguments on two appeals about the move made last week.

Johnson had insisted the prorogation was standard operating procedure for a new prime minister, and it had nothing to do with the upcoming Oct. 31 Brexit deadline.

“Boris Johnson is coming under increasing political pressure, and so is his strategy. For the time being, this is good news for the British pound. A potential no-deal scenario has thus been indirectly torpedoed,” said Marc-André Fongern, an FX and macro strategist at MAF Global.

Price Action

The iShares MSCI United Kingdom Index EWU was down 1.16% at the close Monday while the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF VGK was down 0.26%.

Related Links:

Brexit Update: UK Parliament Suspended Until Mid-October, Johnson Preps To Leave EU

'No End In Sight:' Boris Johnson's Brexit Prep Breaks The Pound, No-Deal Scenario Likely

Photo by David Iliff via Wikimedia.