By Busra Akin Dincer
LONDON (AA) - A Supreme Court hearing on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU is due to start later Monday as the government seeks to avoid having to secure parliamentary consent on exit negotiations.
The government will challenge last month’s High Court ruling that parliament must be consulted before Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty -- the formal mechanism for leaving the EU -- is triggered.
Eleven judges will hear the arguments over four days and a verdict is due early next year.
Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted her government will trigger the Article 50 before the end of March by using “prerogative powers”.
However, the High Court said only parliament can make changes that would affect the laws passed in the 1972 European Communities Act that led to the U.K. joining the European Economic Community, the frontrunner to the EU.
The case will be broadcast live by several television channels.
A legal challenge to the government’s case has been mounted by campaigners in Northern Ireland while the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales have also been allowed to participate in the case. They claim their regional assemblies should also be consulted on the U.K.’s exit.