London - 19 September 2019
1. Exteriors of UK Supreme Court with media gathered outside
2. Close of court building
3. Various of media outside Supreme Court
4. Brexit supporter holding a 'We Voted Leave' placard
5. Protesters against suspension of parliament gathered outside Supreme Court
6. Brexit supporters holding placards and union jack umbrella
7. Protestors holding a banner reading (English) "Have a nice long holiday folks. Don't come back until Nov 1st Thank you xxx 17.4 million people"
8. Media gathered outside the Supreme Court
9. Transparency activist who filed a case against the suspension of parliament, Gina Miller, leaving court with others
10. Scottish National Party MP, Joanna Cherry, one of a group of Scottish MPs who took legal action against the government, and her lawyer Jolyon Maugham walking out of court
11. The Supreme Court sign
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Joanna Cherry, Scottish National Party MP:
"I would like the court to make as clear a statement as possible as to what should follow. In a normal functioning democracy one would expect the prime minister to obey what the Supreme Court says. But we are not currently in a normal functioning democracy. We're in a democracy, in adverted commas, where a prime minister with no majority has suspended parliament because it was getting in his way. So I would hope that the UK Supreme Court will be as clear as they possibly can be about the consequences of their decision, should they find in our favour."
13. Police gathered outside court
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Jolyon Maugham, Joanna Cherry's lawyer:
"All of us, whatever side of the Brexit divide we are on, should be worried about a world in which a prime minister can suspend parliament as an inconvenience. Those who support Boris Johnson's actions at the moment should be asking themselves the question, how they would feel about a future Labour prime minister, perhaps Jeremy Corbyn, who did not any longer want to be subjected to the constraints that parliament might face upon his actions. How would they feel about this? This is not an issue about Brexit. This is an issue about who holds power in this country. Is it Parliament elected by the people or is it a leader elected by a tiny number of members - self-selecting members - of a particular political party?"
15. Public lawyer from Oxford University, Stefan Theil, using his mobile phone
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Stefan Theil, Public lawyer from Oxford University:
"Because it is the case that Parliament is now prorogued there are certain things that it cannot do anymore. The most important thing is to hold the government to account and it's suggested that there would be a possibility for a - hypothetically speaking - for a prime minister to prorogue Parliament in order to get rid of the army or to prorogue Parliament when it becomes apparent that he or she is going to lose a motion of no confidence and suggested that these examples demonstrate that the principle really has to be that prorogation has to be strictly controlled by the courts. There needs to be anxious interrogation of the reasons for prorogation when it touches on these fundamental constitutional principles."
17. Cutaway of Theil's hands
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Stefan Theil, Public lawyer from Oxford University:
"So potentially very far reaching. So depending on what the courts end up deciding it could mean that the Prime Minister unlawfully prorogued Parliament and that Parliament could sit again. It could also mean that they leave it at a declaration of unlawfulness and don't take any further action, which would then have political repercussion. It's very hard to say at this stage."
19. Exterior of Supreme Court
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Stefan Theil, Public lawyer from Oxford University:
"It looks really bad for Boris Johnson I think if it's found to be unlawful. This is really an unprecedented case. It really hasn't happened before that prorogation has been before the courts like this and it would be bad for any prime minister I should think."
21. Security guard outside court
22. Exteriors of Supreme Court
