Jane Golding, lawyer with British in Europe, has written a short explanation below of the legal challenges that have been made over the EU Referendum:

There are several cases that have gone before the High Court in London concerning the democratic process that should be followed post EU Referendum.

The main issue has been over whether the Prime Minister can invoke Article 50 through royal prerogative without reference to Parliament, or if Parliament must be involved in the decision to start the withdrawal process from the EU.  As there is no legal precedent in British political history, this is clearly a crucial question for British democracy. 

On 19 July 2016, the High Court heard submissions from claimants and ordered that there should be a lead claim brought forward by Ms.Gina Miller, who is represented by the law firm Mischcon de Reya.  Other potential claimants were then given permission either to act as interveners or interested parties in that case or to bring new claims in parallel. The High Court decided that the cases would all be heard over two days in mid-October, with the possibility of a “leapfrog” appeal to the Supreme Court by December 2016, or an appeal to the Supreme Court that would avoid having to first go through the Court of Appeal.  This was decided due to the constitutional importance of the questions raised.

Click here for a list of the active legal claimants and interveners.