Greens and British barrister take action over Brexit in Irish court

A legal challenge to establish if Britain can halt Brexit after it triggers article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty has been filed in the Irish High Court.

The plenary summons, the initiating document for the action by a number of Green Party leaders in Britain and Northern Ireland, along with British barrister Jolyon Maugham QC, was filed in the Dublin High Court central office on Friday afternoon.

It names the plaintiffs as Mr Maugham; Steven Agnew, Northern Ireland Green Party leader and MLA; Jonathan Bartley, coleader of the Green Party of England and Wales; and Keith Taylor, Green Party MEP for the southeast of England.

The defendants are Ireland and the Attorney General.

The next stage in the legal process involves the summons being served on the defendants at the offices of the Chief State Solicitor in Dublin. They then have 10 days in which to enter an appearance in the case.

The plaintiffs are seeking various declarations or interpretations of the Treaties of the EU. This includes a declaration that article 50, once triggered, can be unilaterally revoked by the UK government.

Not cease to apply

They also want declarations, on notice of such revocation, that the Treaties of the EU shall not cease to apply to the UK and any European citizen residents in the UK, or UK citizen residents in Ireland/the EU until two years after notification to the European Council at the earliest.

Further declarations sought are that various protocols remain in force unless and until revoked or amended by treaty, and that those preserve Ireland's rights, obligations and prerogatives under the Belfast Agreement. These are notwithstanding the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and any agreement made under article 50.

They also say that , if the Irish State defendants dispute their entitlement to the declarations, the High Court should refer the core issues in the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

They want the European court to decide whether article 50, once triggered, can be unilaterally revoked by the UK government without requiring consent from all 27 other EU member states.