Businesswoman and campaigner Gina Miller arrives at the Supreme Court ahead of a hearing on the legality of proroguing Parliament, in London, Britain, on Sept. 19, 2019. Britain's highest legal body, the Supreme Court in London, started a three-day hearing on Tuesday to determine whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson's suspension of the House of Commons was lawful. The supreme court justices today sat as a panel of 11 judges to hear the challenge that the Prime Minister acted unlawfully when he advised the Queen to suspend parliament. (Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua)
LONDON, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The British Supreme Court is expected to publish a decision "early next week" on whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson's prorogation of Parliament was lawful, Brenda Hale, president of the top court, announced here on Thursday.
The announcement came at the end of the three-day Supreme Court hearing into the hugely controversial suspension.
"We hope to be able to publish our decision early next week," the president said in her closing remarks. "I must repeat that this case is not about when and on what terms the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.
"The result of this case will not determine that," she said. "We are solely concerned with the lawfulness of the prime minister's decision to advise Her Majesty to prorogue Parliament on the dates in question.
"As we have heard, it is not a simple question and we will now carefully consider all the arguments that have been presented to us," she said.
Johnson, who vowed to take his country out of the European Union on Oct. 31 with or without a deal, was accused of suspending Parliament until mid-October in order to prevent MPs putting a stop to a no-deal Brexit.
The prime minister's decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks was challenged in the courts in England and Scotland.
