A Scottish judge on Tuesday fast-tracked a legal challenge mounted by a cross-party group of British MPs over fears that Prime Minister Boris Johnson could suspend Parliament to push through the UK's exit from the European Union by the October 31 deadline, without any deal in place.
Lord Raymond Doherty ruled on a petition filed by around 70 MPs and peers at the Court of Session in Edinburgh to set a September 6 date for a substantive hearing to rule on whether suspending the House of Commons to allow the UK to leave the 28-member economic bloc without a deal would be "unlawful and unconstitutional".
"It's a case that requires expedition but there is a requirement for fairness to both sides," noted Doherty.
Johnson, who took charge as British Prime Minister with a "do or die" Brexit pledge by the October 31 deadline, has repeatedly refused to rule out the prospect of suspending a deeply-divided Parliament, as one of the options, to meet the deadline if no agreement can be reached with the EU in time.
Such a process is termed as proroguing the Parliament and would require the permission of Queen Elizabeth II.