Supreme Court holds that notice under Article 50 to trigger withdrawal from the EU cannot be issued by the Royal prerogative or precluded by constitution of Northern Ireland

On 24 January 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the judgment and declaration issued by the High Court in Miller and Santos to the effect that the government could not issue notice under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union to withdraw the UK from the EU by way of the Royal prerogative, and would require authorisation of an Act of Parliament in order to do so. The Supreme Court also rejected appeals from the judgment of the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland in McCord, holding that consent from the Northern Irish Assembly was not required in order for the government to issue notice under Article 50 (R (Miller and Santos) (Respondents) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Appellant), [2017] UKSC 5 (24 January 2017), (Reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland in the matter of an application by Agnew and others for Judicial Review, and Reference by the Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) in the matter of an application by Raymond McCord for Judicial Review)).