to act to implement abortion legislation due to the supremacy of Parliament, the high court has heard., said while his client recognises the sensitivities of the move, the “fundamental constitutional reality is that Parliament retains its supremacy and can legislate in the devolved sphere”.
This led to the UK government introducing new powers to allow Mr Lewis to formally direct Stormont to begin the services.to take the steps necessary to deploy abortion services across the region, with a deadline of the end of March 2022, as well as ordering “immediate support” for interim early medical abortion services in Northern Ireland.
He contended Executive ministers could treat the regulations “like waste paper”, adding a minister of the Crown “cannot boss people about” if a law does not give them power to.said he was not aware of directions of this type before. “The fact that the regulations do not create a specific mechanism of enforcement is entirely irrelevant,” he said.
“That’s not to be characterised, as my learned friend characterises it, as the Secretary of State acting . . . to use his phrase from yesterday, ‘bossing people around’, it’s the Secretary of State acting entirely within the confines and intention of Parliament.”