Brexit: UK can unilaterally revoke article 50, says EU court

The European court of justice has ruled the UK can unilaterally stop the Brexit process, in a decision that will boost demands for a second EU referendum.

The court concluded that any EU member state can revoke the article 50 process without needing approval from every other member state, in an emergency judgment timed to coincide with Tuesday’s critical Commons vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

It said: “The United Kingdom is free to revoke unilaterally the notification of its intention to withdraw from the EU.”

Coming a day before May will attempt to get the Brexit withdrawal agreement through parliament, the ruling will be reviewed urgently by Scotland’s civil court in Edinburgh. That process will kickstart what is expected to be a last-ditch legal battle by the UK government, which is likely to end in the supreme court.

The judges rejected arguments from both the UK government and the European commission that article 50, the two-year-long process that triggers a member state’s departure from the EU, could not be revoked unilaterally.

A spokeswoman for the court said that any revocation “must be decided following a democratic process in accordance with national constitutional requirements”.

(THE GUARDIAN)