If Brexit is postponed and if , as asserted today, there is a legal requirement that all existing EU members begin the EU election process on 12 April by appointing officials etc., the failure of the UK to do so could be expected to result in a challenge before the courts. As students of constitutional law and history will know, when legislatures and governments mess up and reach gridlock the issues in one form or another often wash up in the courts. As such students will also recall, the judges then face hostility for interfering in the ‘democratic process’ with their critics ignoring the fact that it was the failure of that process which dragged an often reluctant judiciary into the mire.
Judgment Day
Published by Peter G Harris
Peter G Harris is a barrister and was a senior civil servant responsible for advising ministers in the UK on policy and legislation for reforming the civil law and civil justice system. He is now based at Exeter College in the University of Oxford where he teaches and continues to think about the law as an instrument of public policy. View all posts by Peter G Harris
It's the Law, Stupid: Justice: Fairness and Efficiency in Public Policy 