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UK government loses Brexit case, must consult Parliament

LONDON (AP) - Britain's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Prime Minister Theresa May must get legislative approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, raising the possibility that lawmakers will delay her plans to trigger negotiations by the end of March.

The 8-3 decision forces the government to put a bill before Parliament, giving members of the House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords the chance to debate and potentially offer amendments that could soften the terms of Britain's exit from the EU, known as Brexit.

While the ruling won't scuttle Britain's departure, it once again highlights uncertainty about the timetable for negotiating the country's future relationship with the bloc of 500 million people, which is central to trade, immigration and security.

"Unfortunately for businesses and other institutions, Brexit still means uncertainty," said Phillip Souta, head of U.K. public policy at the international law firm Clifford Chance. "Parliament remains divided and the outcome of the negotiations remain unknown."

The lawsuit was considered the most important constitutional case in a generation because it centered on the question of who ultimately wields power in Britain's system of government: the prime minister and her Cabinet, or Parliament.

May had said she would use centuries-old powers known as royal prerogative to invoke Article 50 of the EU treaty and launch two years of exit talks. The powers - traditionally held by the monarch - permit decisions about treaties and other specific issues to be made without a vote of Parliament.

The prime minister argued that the June 23 referendum on EU membership gave her a mandate to take Britain out of the 28-nation bloc and that discussing the details of her strategy with Parliament would weaken the government's negotiating position.

Financial entrepreneur Gina Miller sued to force the government to seek parliamentary approval. Leaving the EU, she said, would change the fundamental rights of citizens and this can't be done without a vote of lawmakers. The Supreme Court agreed.

"The referendum is of great political significance, but the act of Parliament which established it did not say what should happen as a result, so any change in the law to give effect to the referendum must be made in the only way permitted by the U.K. constitution, namely by an act of Parliament," Supreme Court President David Neuberger said in reading the decision.

"To proceed otherwise would be a breach of settled constitutional principles stretching back many centuries," he said.

Significantly, the court also ruled that the legislatures of the nations that are a part of the United Kingdom - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - do not need to be consulted on Brexit.

While the U.K. government has ceded authority over many local issues to these bodies, responsibility for international relations still rests with the government in Westminster.

"Relations with the EU are a matter for the UK government," Neuberger said.

A decision in favor of the regional governments would likely have led to even more delays as local lawmakers piled in with their concerns. The government of Scotland, where voters overwhelmingly supported continued EU membership, has been an outspoken opponent of the prime minister's plans for Brexit.

The court's ruling will focus the debate in Parliament, where May's Brexit secretary, David Davis, told the House of Commons that the government timetable remained on track. A bill will be introduced within days.

"There can be no turning back," Davis said. "The point of no return was passed on June 23 last year."

Opposition was immediately evident.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said his party would seek to amend the legislation to make sure the government is held "accountable." The Scottish National Party, the third-largest party in the House of Commons, promised to put forward 50 amendments.

Miller, co-founder of SCM Direct, an online investment manager, had argued the case wasn't about blocking Brexit. Instead, she said, it was about "democracy" and the "dangerous precedent" that a government can overrule Parliament.

For Miller, who brought the case along with hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, the court's decision brought vindication after months of threats to her security that followed her involvement in the case.

"No prime minister, no government can expect to be unanswerable or unchallenged," she said. "Parliament alone is sovereign."

The case revolved around an argument that dates back almost 400 years to the English Civil War as to whether power ultimately rests in the executive or Parliament.

Constitutional expert Andrew Blick, an expert on the Magna Carta at King's College London, said that advocates of withdrawal had long argued that leaving the 28-nation bloc would protect parliamentary sovereignty.

"They claimed that leaving would promote the principle that the U.K. Parliament is the ultimate source of constitutional authority in the UK," said Blick, who advised the Welsh government on the case. "That principle has now come back to bite them."

Underscoring the importance of the case, May put Attorney General Jeremy Wright in charge of the legal team fighting the suit. Wright had argued the suit was an attempt to put a legal obstacle in the way of enacting the referendum result.

The decision is a bad defeat for May and means that the government "still does not have control of the Brexit timetable," said David Allen Green, a lawyer at the London legal firm Preiskel & Co.

"The appeal decision is, however, a victory for the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty and a vindication of an independent judiciary," Green said. "The Supreme Court has told the government to get back into its box: A proper process has to be followed."

Britain's Attorney General Jeremy Wright, second right, arrives at the Supreme Court in London, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Britain's Supreme Court will rule Tuesday on whether the prime minister or Parliament has the right to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) The Associated Press
Painter Kaya Mar shows his latest painting of British Prime Minister Theresa May in front of the Supreme Court in London, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Britain's Supreme Court will rule Tuesday on whether the prime minister or Parliament has the right to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) The Associated Press
Painter Kaya Mar shows his latest painting of British Prime Minister Theresa May in front of the Supreme Court in London, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Britain's Supreme Court will rule Tuesday on whether the prime minister or Parliament has the right to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) The Associated Press
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May holds a regional Cabinet meeting in Runcorn, England, Monday Jan. 23, 2017 as she launched her industrial strategy for post-Brexit Britain with a promise the Government will "step up" and take an active role in backing business (Stefan Rousseau//PA via AP) The Associated Press
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May meets local business leaders at Sci-Tech in Daresbury England Monday Jan. 23, 2017, as she launched her industrial strategy for post-Brexit Britain with a promise the Government will "step up" and take an active role in backing business. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP) The Associated Press
This undated photo issued by the Supreme Court shows the Justices of the Supreme Court of the UK who will be sitting on the Article 50 case on Tuesday Jan. 24, 201. Back row from left, Lord Toulson - not sitting in the Article 50 case -, Lord Carnwath, Lord Sumption, Lord Wilson, Lord Reed, Lord Hughes, Lord Hodge and front row from left, Lord Kerr, Lady Hale, Lord Neuberger, Lord Mance, Lord Clarke. Britain's government must get parliamentary approval before starting the process of leaving the European Union, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday Jan. 24, 2017, potentially delaying Prime Minister Theresa May's plans to trigger negotiations by the end of March. (Supreme Court via AP) The Associated Press
Gina Miller, the lead claimant in the legal fight to get Parliament to vote on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU, makes a statement outside the Supreme Court in London, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Lead plaintiff Gina Miller says British Supreme Court ruling provides the legal foundation to trigger Brexit. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The Associated Press
In this framegrab taken from the Supreme Court handout video, Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court, center, speaks at Britain's Supreme Court in London, Tuesday Jan. 24, 2017, on whether the prime minister or Parliament has the right to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the EU. Britain's government must get parliamentary approval before starting the process of leaving the European Union, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, potentially delaying Prime Minister Theresa May's plans to trigger negotiations by the end of March. (Supreme Court via AP) The Associated Press
Britain's Attorney General Jeremy Wright addresses journalists after leaving the Supreme Court in London, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. The Supreme Court president announced in a majority 8-3 decision that the government must get parliamentary approval before starting the process of leaving the European Union. Jeremy Wright said that the government will comply with the ruling, and that a statement will be made in Parliament later. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) The Associated Press
Gina Miller, the lead claimant in the legal fight to get Parliament to vote on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU, makes a statement outside the Supreme Court in London, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Lead plaintiff Gina Miller says British Supreme Court ruling provides the legal foundation to trigger Brexit. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) The Associated Press
Gina Miller, the lead claimant in the legal fight to get Parliament to vote on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU, makes a statement outside the Supreme Court in London, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Lead plaintiff Gina Miller says British Supreme Court ruling provides the legal foundation to trigger Brexit. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) The Associated Press
Gina Miller, the lead claimant in the legal fight to get Parliament to vote on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU, makes a statement outside the Supreme Court in London, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Lead plaintiff Gina Miller says British Supreme Court ruling provides the legal foundation to trigger Brexit. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The Associated Press
Gina Miller, the lead claimant in the legal fight to get Parliament to vote on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU, makes a statement outside the Supreme Court in London, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Lead plaintiff Gina Miller says British Supreme Court ruling provides the legal foundation to trigger Brexit. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The Associated Press
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