Rapid Brexit Ruling Is Business as Usual, Top EU Court Says

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union’s highest court sought to explain its lightning speed toward issuing Monday’s landmark ruling on whether the U.K. can change its mind about Brexit.

In a rare step, the EU Court of Justice issued a series of tweets seeking to put the record straight after people suggested that delivering a judgment on Monday was politically motivated. It will come the day before Parliament votes on Prime Minister Theresa May’s highly criticized withdrawal agreement.

The so-called expedited procedure “allows a national court to request that its case be treated urgently in light of the special circumstances,” the EU tribunal added. “Using this procedure reduces the deadlines for the various stages and prioritizes treatment of the case within the court.”

The case was sent to Luxembourg by a Scottish court, which sought urgent guidance on whether Britain could unilaterally revoke the “Article 50” letter that started the clock ticking on Brexit.

The case only arrived at the court on Oct. 3 and since then there’s been a full hearing and an advisory opinion from an advocate general. But it’s not the first time the court has responded quickly in a crisis.

Back in 2001, judges ruled in just over two months in a case on foot and mouth disease. Its average time to hand down a judgment in so-called urgent preliminary cases has been between 2.2 months to 2.9 months since 2013.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephanie Bodoni in Brussels at sbodoni@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Peter Chapman, Jones Hayden

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