BREXIT , INTERESTING DEVELOPMENTS
https:// www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/dec/04/uk-can-stop-article-50-without-eu-approval-top-ecj-adviser-says
UK can stop article 50 without EU approval, top ECJ adviser says
European court of justice likely to endorse opinion in case taken by anti-Brexit campaigners.
An anti-Brexit demonstrator wears a combination of EU and union flags outside parliament.
The UK can unilaterally abandon the article 50 process, a senior adviser to the European court of justice (ECJ) has said, in a significant boost to anti-Brexit campaigners.
Campos Sánchez-Bordona, the court’s advocate general, said he believed EU law allowed a country to revoke article 50 – the provision of the Lisbon treaty invoked by the UK to give two years’ notice that it intended to leave the union – without requiring the formal agreement of the European commission or other EU member states.
In his formal opinion, Sánchez-Bordona said it was essential MPs knew they could stop the Brexit process, dismissing the UK government’s claims the issue was hypothetical.
The UK government and European commission had insisted the Brexit process could be stopped only by unanimous agreement, even though EU treaties were silent on how an article 50 application could be withdrawn.
Sánchez-Bordona’s opinion is a major boost for a cross-party group of Scottish parliamentarians, led by the Scottish Green party MSP Andy Wightman. They launched their legal action in December last year.
With time running out before Brexit day on 29 March, the court is expected to issue an emergency ruling on the case within weeks, perhaps before Christmas, but probably not until after MPs vote on the withdrawal agreement brokered by Theresa May on 11 December.
If the court endorses the advocate general’s opinion, the case will be referred back to the court of session in Edinburgh for a final decision.