Legal challenge to leaving single market to be heard by High Court next week
A new legal challenge over Brexit will be heard in the High Court next week, over whether the European Union will also mean leaving the single market.
Reuters reported that the challenge to leaving the European single market, which was brought by think-tank British Influence, will likely be heard on 20 January.
British Influence argues that Britain should remain part of the European Economic Area, which includes the remaining 27 members of the EU, along with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, three of the four members of the European Free Trade Area, after Brexit.
The think tank also said that for the government to take Britain out of the single market, it would need to activate Article 127 of the EEA agreement.
On Sunday, the pound plummeted to its lowest level against the dollar for two months after Prime Minister Theresa May indicated that Britain was heading towards a ‘hard Brexit’ - out of the single market. She told Sky News that Britain could not keep “bits of EU membership”.
This would be the third court case surrounding Brexit.
In December 2016, the Supreme Court heard a landmark legal case on whether parliamentary consent is needed before triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, with a verdict due some time in January. The High Court previously ruled that the government would need permission from MPs.
While in October, the Northern Ireland High Court in October, ruled that the 1998 Good Friday Agreement did not prevent the government from triggering Article 50.
May said she aims to activate Article 50 by the end of March, starting a two-year clock on formal negotiations to leave the EU.