A Pan-Unionist legal challenge to the Northern Ireland Protocol could go directly to the UK’s highest court, senior judges in Belfast said today.
The group of politicians was allowed to appeal the decision that the post-Brexit trade agreement was legal in the Supreme Court.
Three legal points of public importance were identified for consideration in the ongoing campaign, organized by TUV leader Jim Alistair and other representatives.
The lady, Chief Justice, Shivon Keegan, confirmed: “We have reviewed the documents and in the circumstances of this case we will allow you to appeal to the Supreme Court.”
Introduced in early 2021 to prevent a hard Irish border, the Protocol means that Northern Ireland remains in the EU’s single market for goods.
New trade checks on products entering the region from the UK have created a de facto customs border in the Irish Sea.
Amid widespread trade union opposition to the agreement, a coalition that also includes Baroness Howie and former Brexit MEP Ben Habib is trying to outlaw it.
A separate challenge is being set up by the loyal pastor Clifford People.
Last year, the Belfast Supreme Court found that the Withdrawal Agreement Act, which introduced the Protocol, contradicted Article 6 of the 1800 Union Acts, drafted to ensure a level playing field between Britain and Ireland.
However, the court ruled that the new legislation took precedence over the old law, which could not impede the clear specific will of parliament.
These findings have been challenged on the grounds that the Union’s acts have legal supremacy without the power to implicitly repeal constitutional status.
But in March this year, the Court of Appeals again ruled that the Protocol was considered lawful and should take precedence over the age-old legislative clause.
The new trade agreement is said to subject some of the Union’s acts to the sovereign will of parliament.
However, it will now be subject to additional scrutiny by judges at the London Supreme Court.
Dame Siobhan confirmed that both appeals were allowed to continue, with three legal issues identified:
:: Did the Court of Appeal err in law in concluding that (a) Article 6 of the Union Acts did not prevent the United Kingdom Government from implementing the withdrawal agreement and (b) that the European Union Withdrawal Act of 2018 legally changes Article 6?
:: Has the Court of Appeal erred in law in failing to conclude that the amendment to Article 6 constitutes a change in the constitutional status of Northern Ireland, contrary to the Northern Ireland Act 1998?
:: Did the Court of Appeal err in law in concluding that the Protocol did not lawfully implement Article 42 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998?
“There are three areas that we raise in the order we issue,” the chief judge said.
Outside of court, Mr. Peoples’ lawyer stressed that it is rare to get permission to go directly to the Supreme Court without having to petition for a hearing.
McIvor Farrell’s Ciaran O’Hare said: “It is clear that the Court of Appeal has taken this extraordinary step because of the great constitutional importance of this case, not only for Northern Ireland but for the United Kingdom as a whole, Ireland and the European Union.”
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