Can the courts stop a prime minister from suspending Parliament? [Part-2 of 2: What the Supreme Court said, and Why]

We saw in Part-1 of 2, the problems that beset the UK when it chose to leave the EU. Prime Minister Boris Johnson suspended Parliament because he wanted a Brexit ‘with no deal’. The Supreme Court ruled that the prorogation had been unlawful. Why did it say so? And what is so important about the decision? Read on …

Read More

Can the courts stop a prime minister from suspending Parliament? [Part-1: Johnson prorogues Parliament]

They can – as did the UK Supreme Court on 24 Sept 2019. The Court ruled that the PM Johnson’s advice to the Queen to suspend (‘prorogue’) Parliament had been unlawful. The Court declared that Parliament could resume its work. This case is historic. The effect of this case will be felt for centuries. Why? Read on ...

Read More

Should party-hopping be outlawed?

The country has been suffering from two things during this rainy reason. The one is the flu. The other is the increasing cacophony of frogs in the night. This proliferation of amphibian love calls has had an odd effect on the local politicians. Some opposition politicians, it seems, have turned amphibian. Where is this all going to lead us? Should we outlaw it?

Read More

The deathly silence of dissent in our courts…

Dissent means disagreement between judges.  In a case comprising, say 3 judges, a dissent occurs when one judge distances himself or herself from the other 2 on grounds of legal principle. A dissent is not without its uses.  It may limit the majority decision in some way.  Or the dissent may bear a seed of a wonderful legal point waiting to germinate at some future time. A brilliant lawyer will water ...

Read More