Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a stunning setback on Tuesday when the English Supreme Court ruled 11-0 that his ongoing suspension of Parliament is unlawful. The decision causes significant damage to Johnson’s Brexit plans.
The court’s judgment was damning. It said that Johnson’s action had caused an “extreme” and unlawful effect in preventing Parliament from carrying on its responsibilities at a moment of national import. Holding the government to the principle that the judiciary interprets the law and applies it, the language of this decision also stands as Britain’s counterpart to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Marbury v. Madison, which established the constitutional norm of judicial review. It is thus an important historic moment, as well as political.
