What's the difference between unlawful and illegal?
Unlawful means it is contrary to the law, whereas an ill eagle is a sick bird. Sorry!
I know, for myself, I have not watched parliament TV (not that it's necessarily called that), followed the news, or been as engrossed in politics as I have in recent year, and more specifically in recent weeks. It really feels like there is something historical happening right now, and indeed it is a landmark ruling. AFAIK the UK doesn't have a written constitution, but much of the law is based on case law and precedents from earlier cases. (And I will stop there, because I am not a legal beagle nor do I have any real knowledge about politics.)
What is interesting about this case specifically, is that it is about democracy, and whether the PM is himself above the law? Many people seem to think this is about Brexit, and though it is linked, whether you want Brexit to occur or not, it truly is about democracy and whether the government and parliament acts in our (the people's) best interests or not.
Giving judgement, Lady Hale said
"It is important to emphasise that the issue in these appeals is not when and on what terms the United Kingdom is to leave the European Union. The issue is whether the advice given by the Prime Minister to Her Majesty the Queen on 27th or 28th August 2019 that Parliament should be prorogued from a date between 9th and 12th September until 14th October was lawful."The full judgement can be read here: https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2019-0192-judgment.pdf
The ruling itself was not a gentle slap-on-the-wrist. Instead it was an unanimous judgement of all 11 judges ruling that the PM was wrong. It's incredible to be watching this history occur. Many politicians are now calling for both Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings to resign effective immediately - which if it did happen, BoJo would go down in history as the shortest serving UK PM ever.
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