A Professor of Law and Government at Durham University, Thom Brooks, has said that British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has committed something far worse than a crime by suspending the Parliament last week.
Johnson’s government had prorogued parliament for five weeks, on the premise that the extended suspension was needed to put together a new legislative agenda for the Queen’s speech next month.
The Prime Minister said it was a political decision beyond review of the courts, meaning that any judicial intervention would be an act of interference.
The Supreme Court has since declared the government’s action wrong on all points and parliament had resumed sitting on Wednesday.
President of the Supreme Court, Lady Hale, had declared that Johnson’s actions were “unlawful, void and of no effect.”
“It is impossible for us to conclude on the evidence … that there was any reason – let alone a good reason – to advise Her Majesty to prorogue parliament for five weeks,” Lady Hale had ruled.
Speaking with the Independent, Law Professor Thom Brooks said the repercussions of the verdict were profound, and that, given the unanimous verdict, they will run deep.
“The prime minister has been declared to have made an unlawful request to the Queen to silence parliament in order to pursue a policy agenda that parliament was trying to block.
“This is not simply undemocratic in that it gags Britain’s elected representatives; it’s also unconstitutional,” Brooks said.
He warned that though the UK might have an “unwritten” constitution insofar as its central rules and conventions are not set out in one document as they are in the US, but its rules and conventions are no less real and form the basis for the rule of law.
Brooks added, “There is a clear convention to be followed by senior government officials when found to have breached the law: to resign immediately.
“Johnson may not have committed a criminal offence, but in committing an offence against our constitution and the rule of law, he has arguably done something even worse – not only damaging the office of the prime minister, but dragging the Queen into his Brexit mess.
“Johnson’s time is now up. He has made a serious error of legal judgement, and he must face the consequences.
“Clinging onto his office will not improve his position, whether in parliament or in trying to represent the country abroad as he tries to secure a new Brexit deal,” the Law Professor maintained.
