The CrowdJustice Blog

As the video and transcripts of the Supreme Court hearing’s second day demonstrate, a packed court room is no guarantee of rapt attention in a case that involves dozens of technical points and bundle references as well as the most important constitutional principles. Read more

Yesterday was the first of four intense days of legal argument from the opposing legal teams in the Article 50 case. The hearing can be viewed on line and there has been insightful Twitter coverage from Jolyon Maugham QC, Schona Jolly, the Independent and live updates from the Guardian which will continue through the week. There was massive coverage in the press and other media from the 80 journalists at Court. Transcripts of every word spoken (including, unfortunately, what pass for jokes in legal circles) are available on line. Read more

The UK's 11-Justice Supreme Court will hear the Government open its appeal today against the ruling that it cannot use the Royal Prerogative to take the UK out of the EU by triggering Article 50. Read more

The UK’s Supreme Court was opened in 2009 replacing the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords as part of a package of constitutional reforms. It is housed in a grand building on Parliament Square facing the Houses of Parliament and a short walk from the Westminster-based ministries that include David Davis’ Department for Exiting the European Union. This geography is a permanent reminder that Parliamentarians make the law, the Court independently interprets and applies it and government must answer to both. Read more

On 20 September 1610, Sir Edward Coke, the then Chief Justice, was asked to give a ruling on whether the King could use a Royal Proclamation to suspend an Act of Parliament that had authorised merchants’ trading activities in London. Read more

Yesterday was the third and final day in the High Court hearing, finishing the first stage of one of the most important constitutional cases ever heard. Read more

Yesterday was another extended and intense court day, with the Court hearing submissions from the People’s Challenge Helen Mountfield QC, followed by Patrick Green QC for the expat interveners, Manjit Gill QC for a group of children and carers, then the Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC and ‘Treasury Devil’ James Eadie QC. The Independent’s Siobhan Fenton and Jolyon Maugham QCcontinued to live tweet (intriguingly, in Jolyon’s case, attracting Nicola Sturgeon as a follower). The full transcript is available for those who want the detail, but the highlights follow below. Read more

Despite being the biggest courtroom in the Royal Courts of Justice, Court 4 was packed to capacity and beyond yesterday. Impressively, following a suggestion from our legal team,the court staff had arranged for live video links to screens elsewhere in the building. There was also live tweeting from Jolyon Maugham QC and Independent journalist, Siobhan Fenton and there has been some incisive discussion of the parties’ arguments in the New Law Journal and Financial Times. At the end of the day, a full transcript was published. Besides the many barristers instructed by those already involved in the case, there were QCs with ‘watching briefs’ present for the Scottish and Welsh Governments, suggesting they may want to step in on devolution issues when the case reaches the Supreme Court. So far, only the People’s Challenge has raised these issues in Court. Read more

On 13th, 17th and the morning of 18th October 2016 the Divisional Court will hear the judicial review challenge to the Government’s plans to trigger Article 50 to take the UK out of the EU. The target of the challenge is the way the Government plans to do this – by using the Royal Prerogative instead of seeking prior authorisation from Parliament. Read more

As those who read our recent successful crowdfunding page will know, I am from a small Suffolk based charity called ISCRE which undertake race equality and legal projects in East Anglia. When I first contacted Julia at CrowdJustice in April... Read more