Can high handed May cancel No Deal on March 29? Lawyer says No!
Lawyer Robin Tilbrook says:
This request for an extension has been made without the authorisation of an Act of Parliament.
Ministers, including the Prime Minister, only have official power either on the basis of Statutory powers or on the basis of Royal Prerogative powers.
A long line of legal authority, including the Gina Miller case, has repeatedly reaffirmed that the Prerogative powers only exist in the absence of Statutory powers. The only relevant Statutory power was that set out in the EU Withdrawal Act 2017, which gave the Prime Minister power to serve a Notice to terminate the UK’s membership of the EU.
It follows that on the face of it, the Prime Minister’s request for an extension is illegal.
Also any agreement for an extension which might have been agreed by the European Council is also without any Statutory authority.
We thought it only proper to raise these points in the light of on-going developments, especially in view of your not having fully responded to our initial Letter before Claim.