Sisu's Ricoh Arena barrister leads Brexit challenge over referendum result
The barrister representing Coventry City owners Sisu in the Ricoh Arena row is leading a challenge to the process of Britain leaving the European Union.
Rhodri Thompson QC, who has represented Sisu in the long-running legal battle with Coventry City Council, is part of a legal team assembled to challenge the Brexit process.
Mr Thompson has been retained by law firm Mishcon de Reya, also used by Sisu, to act on behalf of an anonymous group of clients and launch a pre-emptive legal strike against the UK government following the EU referendum result.
The law firm wants to ensure Article 50, the starting point for the UK leaving the EU, is not enacted by the Prime Minister without a vote in the House of Commons.
Mr Thompson will be working alongside other senior legal figures including Baron David Pannick QC, Tom Hickman and Anneli Howard.
The law firm’s challenge is based on the ambiguous wording of Article 50, which reads: “Any member state may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.”
The legal battle is likely to be based on the fact that a referendum is advisory and cannot be used to undermine parliamentary law.
Mishcon de Reya will argue the decision to trigger Article 50 should rest with MPs as the representatives of the people under the UK constitution.
Kasra Nouroozi, partner at Mishcon de Reya, said: “We must ensure that the government follows the correct process to have legal certainty and protect the UK constitution and the sovereignty of parliament in these unprecedented circumstances.
“The result of the referendum is not in doubt, but we need a process that follows UK law to enact it. The outcome of the referendum itself is not legally binding and for the current or future Prime Minister to invoke Article 50 without the approval of parliament is unlawful.
“We must make sure this is done properly for the benefit of all UK citizens. Article 50 simply cannot be invoked without a full debate and vote in parliament.
“Everyone in Britain needs the government to apply the correct constitutional process and allow parliament to fulfil its democratic duty which is to take into account the results of the referendum along with other factors and make the ultimate decision.”
But government lawyers are adamant the two-year process of negotiating the UK’s withdrawal from the EU can be triggered by the Prime Minister using prerogative powers and without a vote in parliament.
Cabinet minister Oliver Letwin, who is heading a Whitehall Brexit Unit to prepare the way for negotiations, anticipated the issue would have to be ironed out in court.
He told a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee: “I am advised that the government lawyers’ view is that it clearly is a prerogative power. No doubt that will be heard in court.”
