The British pound briefly moved higher Tuesday as the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that the suspension of Parliament was unlawful, in a development that makes a no-deal Brexit less likely.
The U.K. Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue Parliament was illegal.
The pound GBPUSD, +0.1850% shot up to as high as $1.2489 from $1.2432 on Monday before falling back to $1.2441.
The FTSE 100 UKX, -0.01% — which tends to move in the opposite direction to the pound — fell as low as 7306.07 as the index recovered to trade flat at 7324.94.
The unanimous Supreme Court ruling declared the order to suspend Parliament “void and of no effect.”
Supreme Court President Brenda Hale said the suspension “was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification.”
She said the court’s decision means Parliament was never legally suspended and is technically still sitting.
In this nation without a written constitution, the case marked a rare confrontation between the prime minister, the courts and Parliament over their rights and responsibilities.
It revolved around whether Johnson acted lawfully when he advised the queen to suspend Parliament for five weeks during a crucial time frame before the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline when Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report
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