R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union

E187679

Brexit-related litigation United Kingdom Supreme Court case constitutional law case public law case

R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union is a landmark 2017 UK Supreme Court case that held the government must obtain parliamentary approval before triggering Article 50 to leave the European Union.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union canonical	6
Miller v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union	4
High Court decision in R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2016] EWHC 2768 (Admin)	1
R (Miller) v The Prime Minister	1
R (on the application of Miller and another) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1659809 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
Context triple: [European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017, precededBy, R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union]

A. R (Jackson) v Attorney General
R (Jackson) v Attorney General is a landmark 2005 House of Lords case that examined the constitutional validity of legislation enacted under the Parliament Acts and explored fundamental principles about the limits of parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law in the UK.
B. European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 is a key UK law that provided the legal framework for leaving the EU by repealing the European Communities Act 1972 and converting existing EU law into domestic legislation.
C. European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017
The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 is a UK law that authorized the Prime Minister to formally trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, beginning the legal process of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU.
D. Brexit
Brexit is the process by which the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union, reshaping its political and economic relationship with Europe.
E. Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union
The Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union is the legally binding treaty that set out the terms of the UK's orderly departure from the EU, covering issues such as citizens' rights, the financial settlement, and transition arrangements.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
Target entity description: R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union is a landmark 2017 UK Supreme Court case that held the government must obtain parliamentary approval before triggering Article 50 to leave the European Union.

A. R (Jackson) v Attorney General
R (Jackson) v Attorney General is a landmark 2005 House of Lords case that examined the constitutional validity of legislation enacted under the Parliament Acts and explored fundamental principles about the limits of parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law in the UK.
B. European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 is a key UK law that provided the legal framework for leaving the EU by repealing the European Communities Act 1972 and converting existing EU law into domestic legislation.
C. European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017
The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 is a UK law that authorized the Prime Minister to formally trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, beginning the legal process of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU.
D. Brexit
Brexit is the process by which the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union, reshaping its political and economic relationship with Europe.
E. Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union
The Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union is the legally binding treaty that set out the terms of the UK's orderly departure from the EU, covering issues such as citizens' rights, the financial settlement, and transition arrangements.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Brexit-related litigation ⓘ United Kingdom Supreme Court case ⓘ constitutional law case ⓘ public law case ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Miller (No 1) ⓘ linked to: Miller Miller v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union ⓘ linked to: R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
citation	[2017] UKSC 5 ⓘ
country	United Kingdom ⓘ
court	Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ⓘ
decisionDate	2017-01-24 ⓘ
defendant	Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union ⓘ
dissent	3 ⓘ
dissentingOpinionBy	Lord Carnwath ⓘ Lord Hughes ⓘ Lord Reed ⓘ
fullCaseName	R (on the application of Miller and another) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union ⓘ linked to: R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
holding	the Government could not lawfully trigger Article 50 TEU without prior authorisation by an Act of Parliament ⓘ the royal prerogative could not be used to change domestic law or nullify statutory rights without parliamentary approval ⓘ
isConsidered	one of the most significant UK constitutional cases of the early 21st century ⓘ
isLandmarkCaseIn	United Kingdom constitutional law ⓘ
jurisdiction	United Kingdom ⓘ
leadClaimant	Gina Miller ⓘ
legalIssue	whether an Act of Parliament was required to notify the EU of the UK’s intention to withdraw ⓘ whether the UK Government could trigger Article 50 TEU using prerogative powers ⓘ
majority	8 ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy	Lady Hale ⓘ linked to: Baroness Hale of Richmond Lord Clarke ⓘ Lord Hodge ⓘ Lord Kerr ⓘ linked to: Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore Lord Mance ⓘ Lord Neuberger ⓘ linked to: Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury Lord Sumption ⓘ Lord Wilson ⓘ
panelSize	11 justices ⓘ
precededBy	High Court decision in R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2016] EWHC 2768 (Admin) ⓘ linked to: R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
ratioDecidendi	withdrawing from the EU would inevitably lead to changes in domestic law and removal of statutory rights, which requires primary legislation ⓘ
relatedLegislation	European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 ⓘ European Union Referendum Act 2015 ⓘ
relatedTreaty	Treaty on European Union ⓘ
relatedTreatyArticle	Article 50 TEU ⓘ
resultedIn	requirement for Parliament to pass the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 ⓘ
subjectMatter	Brexit ⓘ parliamentary sovereignty ⓘ royal prerogative ⓘ separation of powers ⓘ
yearDecided	2017 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (13)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 → precededBy → R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union ⓘ

Royal prerogative of the United Kingdom → notableCaseLaw → R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union ⓘ

Royal prerogative of the United Kingdom → notableCaseLaw → R (Miller) v The Prime Minister ⓘ