Brexit minister drops out of EU court case against PM

[BRUSSELS] Britain's new minister for Brexit has dropped out of a legal case against his new boss, Prime Minister Theresa May, being heard in the European Union's top court, his office said on Tuesday.

David Davis was one of several people who took legal action against Ms May when she was interior minister over the bulk collection of electronic data by security agencies.

The European Court of Justice's senior legal official on Tuesday largely backed their case, but it emerged that Mr Davis had dropped out since being appointed.

"As part of his new ministry duty, it is not permitted to bring a case against a government decision", Mr Davis's spokesman told AFP.

His name was also missing from a court statement about the case.

Leading Brexiteer Mr Davis was named by Ms May last week in the newly-created post of Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.

He filed the case while he was a backbench MP alongside the deputy leader of Britain's opposition Labour party, Tom Watson.

The ECJ's advocate general - giving a legal opinion that the court is likely to follow - said it was only legal for Britain to retain mass data in cases involving serious crime.

Ms May had been pushing through a law to make telecommunications companies keep all data for a maximum period of 12 months.

AFP