Scotland wants to join Brexit legal battle

LONDON

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that her country might join the legal battle against Brexit, following a key court decision saying lawmakers had to be consulted.

Earlier on Thursday, high court judges ruled that the U.K. government could not unilaterally take the country out of the European Union and must allow lawmakers to vote on the matter. The government said it would appeal the decision to the U.K. Supreme Court.

“We will actively consider whether or not there is a case for the Scottish government to become participants in that case,” Sturgeon said at a televised parliament meeting shortly after the High Court decision was made public.

Sturgeon welcomed the court ruling, calling it "hugely significant". More than 60 percent of Scottish voters chose to remain in the EU in the June referendum.

“Job of this government is to protect Scotland’s interest [...] and my job is to protect a place in Europe and common market as far as I can as the first minister,” Sturgeon added.

Scotland would join investment banker Gina Millier, one of the participants who brought the case to court, in order to push for a parliamentary vote.

The High Court ruled on Wednesday morning that the U.K. parliament must be consulted before the country can trigger Article 50, the formal mechanism for leaving the European Union.

Ministers had said the results of June’s referendum on EU membership, in which voters opted to leave by a 52-48 percent margin, should be respected.

But judges said lawmakers cannot be bypassed in overturning the original 1972 law that took Britain into the European Communities, a precursor to the EU.

“The most fundamental rule of the U.K.’s constitution is that Parliament is sovereign and can make and unmake any law it chooses,” they said in a decision published online.

They added that the government of the day cannot override legislation enacted by parliament without a new vote.

A Supreme Court hearing has provisionally been set for Dec. 7, 2016. Prime Minister Theresa May had said she expected to trigger Article 50 before the end of March 2017.