In United Kingdom constitutional law, prorogation is an act usually used to mark the end of a parliamentary session.
[2] Like all prerogative powers, it is not left to the personal discretion of the monarch but is to be exercised, on the advice of the prime minister, according to law.
[9] King Charles II prorogued the Cavalier Parliament in December 1678 to prevent it continuing with the impeachment of the Earl of Danby.
This and the actions of Charles I were one of the reasons for the Bill of Rights 1689, where article 1 stated that: the pretended Power of Suspending of Laws or the Execution of Laws by Regal Authority without Consent of Parliament is illegal.When the House of Commons defeated the First Reform Bill in 1831, the government urged the King to dissolve Parliament, which would lead to a new general election.
William IV was initially reluctant, but he was irritated by the Opposition, which announced it would move the passage of an Address or resolution against dissolution.
Regarding the Opposition's motion as an attack on his prerogative, and at the urgent request of the government, the King prepared to go in person to the House of Lords and prorogue Parliament.
[17][18] On that occasion, the prorogation was on Friday, 21 March,[19] and was followed by a general election on 1 May, resulting in a change of government to Labour led by Tony Blair.
On 28 August 2019, Boris Johnson declared he had asked Queen Elizabeth II to prorogue parliament from between 9–12 September until the opening of a new session on 14 October.
[20] Parliament was due to have a three-week recess for party conference season,[21] and if that were to take place as usual then Johnson's prorogation would add around four days to the parliamentary break.
[20] Others questioned this justification, and said that the prorogation was an improper attempt to evade parliamentary scrutiny of Johnson's Brexit plans in advance of the UK's departure from the European Union on 31 October 2019; individuals and groups who opposed the prorogation included opposition MPs,[21] UK constitutional law scholars,[25] and Sir John Major, the former Conservative prime minister.
[29][30] The issue was brought before the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on 17 September 2019 in the cases R (Miller) v The Prime Minister and Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland, heard jointly.
[35][36] Bercow said he would ensure that the attempted prorogation would be expunged from the House of Commons Journal, the corrected formal record of parliamentary business, and replaced with a statement that Parliament was adjourned for the period of the absence.