Britain's Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that the suspension of Parliament orchestrated by Prime Minister Boris Johnson was illegal.

Reading the decision of the court, Senior Judge Brenda Hale said the suspension "was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry our its constitutional functions without reasonable justification."

Johnson had asked Queen Elizabeth II to suspend Parliament for five weeks, to reconvene just weeks before Britain's scheduled departure from the European Union on October 31. The move was widely interpreted as intended to make it difficult for Parliament to block Johnson's desire for a "no deal" Brexit.

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