March 29, 2017, Covington Alert

Today, the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, formally triggered the process of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU (“Brexit”) by invoking Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This is the first time an EU Member State has used the Article 50 mechanism. This marks the beginning of the two-year period in which an arrangement for Brexit must be agreed and finalized. If no agreement is reached—and if there is no unanimous agreement among all other EU Member States to extend the two-year period—the UK will cease to be a member of the EU with no replacement or transitional arrangement in place. The letter triggering Article 50 has been described by Prime Minister May as “one of the most important documents in [the UK’s] recent history and will start to deliver the result of the referendum and set the tone for [the UK’s] new relationship with Europe and the world.”

January 24, 2017, Covington Alert

Today, the UK Supreme Court held (by a majority of 8:3—an unprecedented 11 Justices heard the case) that the UK Government does not have the power to trigger the process of withdrawal from the EU (“Brexit”) without first obtaining Parliamentary approval in the form of an Act of Parliament. The decision is largely aligned with the Divisional Court’s ruling on November 3, 2016.

November 3, 2016, Covington Alert

Today, the High Court of England and Wales held that the UK Government does not have the power to trigger the process of withdrawal from the EU without first obtaining Parliamentary approval. The High Court’s decision will likely be the subject of an appeal heard by the UK Supreme Court in December this year.