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What’s the deal with prorogation?
The political and legal plot has thickened in the UK in the past week, writes Emma Guest.
Jerome Doraisamy
Over recent days you may have heard rumblings about the fact that the British parliament is to be shut down by the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
This action may also result in a number legal challenges, protests and constitutional questions. You may have also seen reference to the term “prorogation”, which unless you are a constitutional lawyer, is probably not a term you are too familiar with, or the political implications.
Let me try to explain: the term “prorogation” refers to the shutting down of parliament, it must be done by royal decree which was given by the Queen at the request of Mr Johnson.
Legal precedent and constitutional challenges
The timing of this decision to shut down parliament is so controversial because opponents see it as a deliberate way of stopping MPs in the House of Commons being able to have the opportunity of debating a deal on behalf of the UK.
It would be parliament that would be able to prevent a no-deal Brexit being approved by the PM. It would also have the consequence that the time available to MPs to reach an agreement and pass legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit on 31 October later this year would be severely limited.
It also brings into question constitutional issues of the separation of powers under the legislative, executive and judicial functions. The House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, has described it as a “constitutional outrage”.
He continued, stating that “however it is dressed up, it is blindingly obvious that the sole purpose of suspending parliament now would be to stop MPs debating Brexit and performing its duty in shaping the course for the country.”
In all this uncertainty about what lies ahead, one thing is certain there will be a number of both critical legal and constitutional questions which currently remain unanswered.
Emma Guest is an author, UK-qualified lawyer and is a change manager at RS Consulting.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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