UK courts' Brexit ruling could nudge May into snap polls

THE UK Supreme Court is expected to rule this month on whether the government requires an act of Parliament to trigger Article 50 and commence formal exit negotiations with the European Union (EU). The potentially landmark decision could shape UK politics in key ways in 2017 given that many legislators have different priorities to the government on the Brexit agenda.

If the court rules that legislation is required, as many legal scholars expect, it will both raise the prospects that Article 50 may not be triggered until after the self-imposed March deadline that Prime Minister Theresa May has set, and also that Parliament will ultimately also get a vote on any final deal that emerges in coming years from the EU negotiations. In so doing, this raises the odds of a "softer Brexit" given the large number of pro-EU legislators in both the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Some Brexiteers are already concerned that the UK's EU departure could even be derailed by the Supreme Court's decision. However, the real significance of the impending judicial decision is that it will set rules of the process that Mrs May will have to follow as she attempts to implement the results of last June's referendum.