On 24 September 2019, a panel of 11 Justices of the Supreme Court delivered judgment in R (Miller) v Prime Minister; Cherry & others v Advocate General for Scotland [2019] UKSC 41. The Court, in a unique and unprecedented case, unanimously found that the advice of the Prime Minister to Her Majesty The Queen to prorogue Parliament between 9 September and 14 October 2019 was unlawful, and that the prorogation itself was void.
In doing so, the Supreme Court upheld the judgment of the unanimous Inner House of the Court of Session of Scotland – for different reasons – and overturned the unanimous Divisional Court of England and Wales (comprising the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls and the President of Queen’s Bench Division).
Christopher Knight acted for the Government throughout, including assisting in relation to the Scottish proceedings, as junior counsel to Sir James Eadie KC and the Advocate General for Scotland, Lord Keen of Elie KC. The judgment of the Supreme Court may be read here.
