Belfast High Court rejects Northern Irish Article 50 judicial review

Maya Lester QC

The High Court in Belfast today dismissed judicial review challenges to the way the Government intends to trigger Article 50 of the TEU. A link to the judgment of Mr Justice Maguire is here and a summary here.

This case is separate from the Article 50 judicial review proceedings in the Divisional Court in London in which judgment is currently awaited. The Belfast court stayed consideration of issues in the Northern Irish case which overlap with the Divisional Court proceedings. The main issues in the Northern Irish case include whether provisions of Northern Irish constitutional law preclude the use of the royal prerogative to trigger Article 50, whether the Government has failed to comply with provisions of the Northern Ireland Act.