Five questions referred by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland.
Held: The matter was adjourned: ‘it is desirable that legal questions be determined against the background of a clear factual matrix, rather than as theoretical or academic issues of law. The opportunity for discussion and determination of the legal questions raised in the AGNI’s reference exists. Litigation concerning the validity of a proposed electricity interconnector between Northern Ireland and Ireland potentially raises most, if not all, of the issues adumbrated in the current reference. This court was told that that litigation has been stayed pending the outcome of this reference. The stay of proceedings is not appropriate. Those proceedings will provide the chance for the issues raised in the reference to be ventilated against a clear factual backdrop. They will also have the advantage of having the courts of Northern Ireland deal with those issues by reference to the practical reality of their impact on society there, so that an insight into the outworking of the competing arguments can be obtained.’
Judges:
Lady Hale, President
Lord Reed, Deputy President
Lord Kerr
Citations:
[2019] UKSC 1
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
Northern Ireland
Citing:
Cited – Buick, Re Judicial Review CANI 6-Jul-2018
Held: the relevant department did not have the power to make the decision to grant planning permission for a major waste incinerator in the absence of a minister. . .
Cited by:
Cited – Northern Ireland Devolution Issues, A Reference By The Attorney General (Northern Ireland) SC 5-Feb-2020
Devolution issue arises as to Act of NI Minister
The basis for the Attorney’s reference is his assertion that the universal credit provisions in question breach articles 8, 12 and 14 of the ECHR and article 1 of the first protocol to the ECHR and are therefore invalid per section 24 of the 1998 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Constitutional
Updated: 05 June 2022; Ref: scu.678300