No, Boris isn’t breaching the rule of law. Here’s why

Does the government threaten the ‘rule of law’ by asking parliament to vote its way out of a Brexit treaty? The Society of Conservative Lawyers, which has advised Tory thinking since 1947, has released this statement from some members of its executive (on which I also sit) saying they are ‘deeply troubled’ by the government ‘knowingly and deliberately breaching’ the rule of law. I agree with my colleagues that ‘upholding the rule of law is a fundamental principle of sound government’ but I do not consider that there has been a breach of the rule of law in this matter. Briefly, here’s why.

The ‘rule of law’ means that all in society, including the government, are subject to the law, and there must be a lawful basis for what the government does or omits to do. Abiding by our obligations under international law, including an international treaty obligation, is part of the rule of law (and this is so regardless of whether domestic law needs to be made or changed in order to implement a treaty).