Thread: can 'Article 50' (i.e. proper start of Brexit) be revoked? Means UK would not leave EU. Background: it started with a legal challenge in UK and taken to the European Court of Justice (EU's highest court). Today we got a 'sneak peek' (saying yes it can be revoked). /1
That 'sneak peek' is the Advocate Generals' opinion: the ECJ has a process in which the AG gives an opinion and then the full court judgment follows. Rule of thumb is the court outcome follows the AG's outcome (but not always and sometimes by different paths). Complicated. /2
This is a short press release about the AG's opinion: curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/do…. This is the full opinion: curia.europa.eu/juris/document… /3
Why is this a problem in the first place? Because Article 50 explains how an EU Member State can start the process to leave the EU but it doesn't say if and how it can be stopped. Here's Article 50: /4 
Q: OK so what, when the author of Article 50 (Lord Kerr) says it can be revoked? (E.g. theguardian.com/politics/2017/…). A: because the interpretation of a legal document depends on what it actually does/doesn't say, not on what the author or reader subjectively thinks. /5
Article 50 is silent on revocation. So it has to be resolved by the court. So, back to the Advocate General. His argument in crude summary is: (1) Generally a state can withdraw unilaterally from an international treaty. (2) Article 50 notification is start not end of Brexit /6
(3) If A50 couldn't be revoked then all departing Member States are railroaded into exit. (4) A50 revocation does not require EU consent. BUT BUT BUT (5) A50 revocation DOES require respect of State processes - here, it means Parliament approving revocation before March 2019 /7
So, AG seems fairly clear A50 can be revoked unilaterally provided UK internal constitutional processes are respected. Let's see if the full court agrees. Assuming it does (which is a good bet), remember the court may not hv exact same reasoning. Assume that's not a problem... /8
So what? As @GeorgeOsborn pointed out on @Games4EU Slack, it provides a back-stop to Brexit. Parliament can't be railroaded into no-deal Brexit because in worst case A50 can be revoked (as long as it's before March 2019 or any extension period). But.../9
@GeorgeOsborn @Games4EU ..,(and this is my own early opinion) Article 50 revocation is a technocratic workaround to a profound political-democratic problem. We must still fight for a democratic exercise in favour of stopping Brexit -i.e. a People's Vote. Still, ECJ is (prob) giving UK a last lifeline.
@threadreaderapp unroll
