The Miller Tale: An Introduction

Abstract

The judgment of the UK Supreme Court in R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union — in which the legal capacity of the Government to trigger the UK's withdrawal from the EU under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union was tested — is of fundamental legal, constitutional and political significance. The Supreme Court’s judgment discussed the relative powers of Parliament and the Government, the relationship between Westminster and the devolved legislatures, and the extent to which the UK’s membership of the EU had changed the UK constitution prior to departure from the EU, in addition to possible further changes to the constitution even after departure. It also provided further evidence of the emerging role of the UK’s Supreme Court as a constitutional court, despite the lack of a codified constitution in the UK. This paper, which forms the first chapter of a collection of essays on the Miller case, introduces the case, places it in context and preliminarily explores its legal and constitutional significance. In particular, the chapter sets out and examines the arguments presented to the Divisional Court and the Supreme Court and the judgments of those courts, as well as considering a number of notable aspects of the litigation.

Keywords: Constitutional Law, Public Law, UK Law, Royal Prerogative, European Union, European Union Law, Miller Case

JEL Classification: K00, K1, K10, K19, K2, K20, K29, K3, K30, K39, K4, K40, K49