N. Irish court says Brexit will not need MPs' approval

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

The High Court in Northern Ireland ruled Friday the British government will not need approval from parliament before triggering legislation to start the U.K.’s exit from the European Union.

A summary of Friday’s judgment confirmed there were two separate applications: an individual one by a private NI citizen, Raymond McCord, and another by a group of politicians from various parties.

They had lodged cases in August seeking a judicial review of the government’s intention to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

The claimants argued using royal prerogative to initiate Brexit was unlawful because it would bypass parliament.

They also argued it would mean unpicking the 1998 Belfast Agreement -- a historic deal which ended decades of violence between Irish nationalists and pro-British unionists.

McCord’s lawyer argued the 1998 deal had given sovereignty of Northern Ireland to its people, and that leaving the EU would cause a “catastrophic effect” to the peace process.

A majority of voters in Northern Ireland chose to remain inside the EU in June’s U.K.-wide Brexit referendum.

However, Justice Paul Maguire ruled there was nothing in the Belfast Agreement to prevent the Westminster government triggering Article 50, a court statement read.

As news of the verdict broke, the fragile value of the pound sterling immediately started to fall after having slightly recovered following optimistic GDP figures revealed on Thursday, according to live data obtained from ExchangeRates.org.uk.

The U.K. will trigger Article 50, which regulates the negotiations and timetable for a state to leave the European Union, by March 2017, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced earlier this month.