London: In a historic ruling, the UK's Supreme Court on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to suspend or prorogue the country's Parliament for five weeks in the lead-up to a Brexit deadline, was unlawful. On August 28, Johnson had ordered the suspension for five weeks, saying it was to allow a Queen's Speech to outline his new Brexit policies. The shutdown began on September 10, the BBC reported.
Delivering the unanimous verdict of the 11 Supreme Court justices, Brenda Hale, the President of the Supreme Court, said: "The Prime Minister's advice to Her Majesty was unlawful, void and of no effect. This means that the Order in Council to which it led was also unlawful, void and of no effect and should be quashed. "This means that when the Royal Commissioners walked into the House of Lords it was as if they walked in with a blank sheet of paper.
"The prorogation was also void and of no effect. Parliament has not been prorogued. This is the unanimous judgment of all 11 justices." "The effect on the fundamentals of our democracy was extreme," she added. (IANS)