Investing.com - The U.K. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that British Prime Minister Theresa May will need to seek approval from parliament in order to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to begin the formal process of withdrawing from the European Union, known as Brexit.
In a majority of 8 to 3, the supreme court ruled that the government cannot trigger article 50 without an act of parliament.
The court also ruled that the government does not have to consult the devolved parliaments before triggering article 50.
Lord Neuberger, the president of the supreme court said that the Sewell Convention, which says that normally Scotland has to give legislative consent to any legislation affecting devolved matters, is a convention and is not within the jurisdiction of the court.
While some in Parliament remained strongly opposed to the path set by May, the main opposition Labour Party has said it would not block Article 50, and parliament's House of Commons overwhelmingly backed a motion backing her timetable, in a non-binding vote in December.
The government hopes that the process will still receive Parliament’s backing in order for May to be able to trigger Article 50, as promised, by the end of March.