英国高院听证退欧案件

This is the first time in British history that all 11 senior judges of the Supreme Court will preside over the government's appeal to trigger the Brexit process through prerogative powers. At the start of the hearing, Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger said the justices were aware of the strong public interest and political feelings associated with the case, but he stressed that legal justice is the predominant concern of the appeal.

"This appeal is concerned with legal issues, and as judges, our duty is to consider those issues impartially and to decide the case according to the law."

As a result of the Referendum in June, in which the UK voted to leave the European Union by a small margin, Prime Minister Theresa May announced the government would formally start the Brexit process by triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty in March 2017. However, a group of campaigners led by investment manager Gina Miller called for a parliamentary vote on the decision. In a High Court case, brought by Miller and her legal team, judges ruled that the government cannot trigger Article 50 without parliament's consent. The government appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn this ruling.

Putting the government's case forward to the Supreme Court is Attorney General Jeremy Wright along with government lawyer James Eadie. Mr. Eadie quoted historical court judgments from the 1920s right up to the 2015 EU Referendum Act to argue that the government should have the power to make or negotiate, as well as withdraw from international treaties.

"The 2015 Act posed and put to a vote of all the people of the UK the very question that the divisional court (High Court) and the respondents say has to be reput to Parliament. That prompts the question was Parliament really in 2015 in passing that Act and setting up the referendum doing no more than simply reserving to itself the right to decide whether to leave or not as it saw fit? "

Commenting on the significance of the Supreme Court case, Lord Michael Howard, former leader of the Conservative Party said he's "confident" the judges will reach the "right decision" and overturn the High Court ruling. He believed the government was right to use the legal process to appeal against an unjustified decision.

"Because there's a very important constitutional principle involved, they were important legal questions, and I think the divisional court got it wrong and obviously because it's appealing and so does the government."

The hearing is expected to last four days and the verdict will be announced in January.

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