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Article 50 case: AMs 'do not have to be legally consulted' Brexit: Ministers 'not legally compelled' to consult AMs
(35 minutes later)
AMs do not have to be legally consulted on the article 50 Brexit process, the Supreme Court has ruled. The Welsh Assembly does not have to be consulted by UK ministers triggering Brexit, the Supreme Court has ruled.
On Tuesday morning senior judges said that the UK government cannot trigger Brexit without consulting MPs. Senior judges said that the UK government cannot trigger Article 50 without consulting MPs.
In the same judgement the Supreme Court dismissed Welsh ministers' argument that the assembly should be consulted on the mechanism to leave the EU. In the same judgement the court dismissed Welsh ministers' argument that the assembly should be consulted on the mechanism to leave the EU.
Counsel General Mick Antoniw called the ruling "a victory" for Parliament's sovereignty. Counsel General Mick Antoniw called the ruling "a victory" in upholding the sovereignty of Parliament.
President of the Supreme Court Lord Neuberger told the court: "On the devolution issues, the court unanimously rules that UK ministers are not legally compelled to consult the devolved legislatures before triggering Article 50. Giving the judgement on Tuesday, President of the Supreme Court Lord Neuberger said: "On the devolution issues, the court unanimously rules that UK ministers are not legally compelled to consult the devolved legislatures before triggering Article 50.
"The devolution statutes were enacted on the assumption that the UK would be a member of the EU, but they do not require it."The devolution statutes were enacted on the assumption that the UK would be a member of the EU, but they do not require it.
"Relations with the EU are a matter for the UK government.""Relations with the EU are a matter for the UK government."
The Welsh Government had told the court that if the sovereignty of Parliament was not upheld, and MPs did not vote on article 50, it would undermine the basis for devolution.The Welsh Government had told the court that if the sovereignty of Parliament was not upheld, and MPs did not vote on article 50, it would undermine the basis for devolution.
It had also argued that using royal prerogative powers to trigger article 50 short-circuited the Sewel Convention, which requires AMs to vote on legislation which affects the Welsh devolution settlement. It had also argued that using royal prerogative powers to trigger article 50 short-circuited the Sewel Convention, which requires Welsh assembly members to vote on legislation which affects the Welsh devolution settlement.
Mr Antoniw, who is the Welsh Government's top legal advisor, said that starting the process in that way would "modify the competence of the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Government". The judgement said that the Sewel Convention was a political constraint on the activity of the UK parliament, but that the policing of its scope and operation was not within the constitutional remit of the courts.
The UK government dismissed that argument as "tortuous".
It had stressed the "conduct of foreign relations", including those with the EU, were not devolved to Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
The judgement said that the Sewel Convention is a political constraint on the activity of the UK parliament, but that the policing of its scope and operation is not within the constitutional remit of the courts.
Judges concluded the devolved legislatures in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland do not have a veto on the UK's decision to withdraw from the EU.
In December, the UK government appealed against a High Court ruling that Parliament must approve the Article 50 process of leaving the EU.In December, the UK government appealed against a High Court ruling that Parliament must approve the Article 50 process of leaving the EU.
However a majority of the judges also dismissed the UK government's case that the prime minister could invoke article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to launch the formal two-year process of leaving the European Union using crown prerogative - powers used by ministers that do not require the permission of MPs. However, a majority of the judges dismissed the argument that the prime minister could trigger Brexit using crown prerogative - powers used by ministers that do not require the permission of MPs.
Mr Antoniw had earlier argued the article 50 process needed a vote in Cardiff Bay. Mr Antoniw had earlier argued the Article 50 process also needed a vote in Cardiff Bay.
He told BBC Wales the ruling "is certainly a victory in terms of upholding the sovereignty of parliament". He told BBC Wales the ruling was "certainly a victory in terms of upholding the sovereignty of Parliament", and that process now "opens the opportunity to engage through the Sewel convention".
He said that process now "opens the opportunity to engage through the Sewell convention". "We've never argued for a veto, and the court made that point, but what it does do is stress the importance of the Sewel convention in terms of engagement."
"We've never argued for a veto and the court made that point but what it does do is stress the importance of the Sewell convention in terms of engagement," he said. Earlier, speaking to BBC Radio Wales before the judgement, Mr Antoniw defended the £84,000 cost of the Welsh Government's intervention, saying: "The voice of Wales within the UK constitution is priceless."
He added: "In terms of Parliament, the judgement makes it very clear that the Sewel convention is an important part of constitutional process for engagement with the devolved administrations." Plaid Cymru AM Adam Price said it was "insulting" to tell the devolved institutions they will not have a say on the way ahead.
Speaking to BBC Wales on Tuesday morning before the judgement, Mr Antoniw defended the £84,000 cost of the challenge, saying: "The voice of Wales within the UK constitution is priceless." "It's a reflection, isn't it, that we are second-class citizens... [and] that the parliament of Wales doesn't get a fair hearing on a matter that's going to be crucially important to our farmers, our workers, to every corner of our country," he said.
Hywel Williams, Plaid Cymru MP, said he was very disappointed: "Clearly the needs of the people of Wales and the Welsh economy are different from the needs of the economy in central London." UKIP MEP and independent AM Nathan Gill said the Brexit white paper published by the Welsh Government on Monday "will make it into the Guinness Book of Records for having the shortest shelf life ever, 24 hours".
"I think we should be properly consulted," he argued. "Because it's now been made obsolete," he claimed.
A UKIP assembly group spokesman said it welcomed the judgement on article 50 and parliament, and that any attempt to block Brexit would trigger an immediate general election: "We say bring it on." But Mr Gill - a member of the committee advising First Minister Carwyn Jones on Brexit - said the Supreme Court judgement in favour of parliament was "no surprise".
"It would be absurd for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland to have a veto over triggering article 50," he said. A UKIP assembly group spokesman said it welcomed the judgement on Article 50 and Parliament, and that any attempt to block Brexit would trigger an immediate general election: "We say bring it on."
Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Mark Williams welcomed the ruling, saying it showed the sovereignty of parliament is paramount and that the party will vote against article 50. "It would be absurd for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland to have a veto over triggering Article 50," he said.
But he added: "The UK government must absolutely respect the devolved settlement of Britain and the right of the devolved parliaments to shape our withdrawal from the EU." Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Mark Williams welcomed the ruling, saying it showed the sovereignty of parliament was paramount, and that his party will vote against Article 50.
He added: "The UK government must absolutely respect the devolved settlement of Britain and the right of the devolved parliaments to shape our withdrawal from the EU."
Several Labour MPs have indicated they will disobey any order by party leader Jeremy Corbyn to vote in favour of Article 50.
Pontypridd MP Owen Smith, who backed Remain, suggested there ought to be a fresh referendum on the terms of leaving the EU, fearing the UK was set for the "hardest of hard Brexits" by leaving the single market and the customs union.
"The right thing to do then is to allow the British people once more in an ultra-democratic moment to confirm whether they really want the hard, hard Brexit they are likely to get," he said.