European Court of Justice to consider whether UK can backtrack on Brexit
Case 'fast-tracked' due to 'urgency of tissue'
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Your support makes all the difference.The European Court of Justice (ECJ) will next month consider whether Brexit can be halted if MPs want it to be.
On Friday the ECJ confirmed the case, brought by a group of Remain-supporting campaigners had, had been “granted the fast-track procedure” after a Scottish court said the issue was “urgent”.
It comes after the Court of Session in Edinburgh said it was referring the question of whether the UK is able to unilaterally withdraw its Article 50 letter – sent in March 2017 – to Luxembourg.
The UK is due to leave the European Union on 29 March next year.
Jolyon Maugham QC, who is among the group of anti-Brexit campaigners, said a hearing would now take place on 27 November.
Appealing to the public for help funding the legal challenge, Mr Maugham said: “This is a case vital in our national interest. Please help us engage the best possible team.”
Mr Maugham, who is the director of the Good Law Project, brought the case along with Scottish Green MSPs Andy Wightman and Ross Greer, Labour MEPs David Martin and Catherine Stihler and SNP MEP Alyn Smith.
They say Brexit is “not inevitable” and argue the UK should be able to change its mind on whether to withdraw from the EU without the permission of the bloc’s other 27 member states.
If successful, the case would give parliament the power to unilaterally halt Brexit if it feels the outcomes of negotiations are unsuccessful, regardless of whether the government wants it to go ahead.
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