The U.K. Supreme Court has announced that it has refused the permission to appeal application of the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. The application had been made to stop the reference by the Inner House of the Court of Session in Scotland to the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling on whether the U.K. can unilaterally revoke its notice of withdrawal from the EU. The court's referral to the CJEU was discussed in our previous post. The Court of Session opined on September 21, 2018 that a reference should be made to the CJEU - Wightman v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2018] CSIH 62.

The U.K. Department for Exiting the EU has also published a statement on the reference to the CJEU confirming that it has submitted written observations to the CJEU. The Government's position is that the reference to the CJEU is inadmissible on the basis that the CJEU does not answer hypothetical questions or provide advisory opinions.

An oral hearing before the CJEU is scheduled for November 27, 2018.

View the Supreme Court's announcement.

View the DxEU statement.

View details of the Court of Session Opinion.