Brexit: Supreme Court will rule on lawfulness of Northern Ireland Protocol today

The Supreme Court will later rule on the lawfulness of Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol.

The legality of the contentious trading arrangements has been challenged by a collective of unionists and Brexiteers.

Arguments were considered by the UK’s highest court at a two-day hearing last year after the Court of Appeal upheld a ruling in Belfast High Court dismissing the legal challenge.

The protocol, which is a key aspect of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, was jointly designed by London and Brussels to keep Ireland’s land border free flowing following the UK’s departure from the EU.

Becoming effective in 2021, the arrangements instead shifted customs and regulatory checks to the Irish Sea and created new red tape on the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with trade in the region remaining subject to certain EU Single Market rules.

The appellants argue that the legislation passed at Westminster to give effect to the Withdrawal Agreement conflicts with the 1800 Acts of Union that formed the United Kingdom, particularly Article 6 of that statute guaranteeing unfettered trade within the UK.

The legal challenge also contends that the protocol undermines the peace process legislation underpinning Northern Ireland’s powersharing settlement at Stormont – the 1998 Northern Ireland Act.

Press Association – David Young