Lawyers acting for a group of Scottish politicians argued before the top European court Tuesday that the British parliament should have the power to unilaterally halt the countdown to Brexit.
A Scottish court has referred the case, which hinges on whether Westminster MPs could simply revoke Britain's "Article 50" EU withdrawal process, to the European Court of Justice.
Prime Minister Theresa May's British government argues it has no intention of halting Brexit anyway and that the case has been brought as a political tactic by pro-European opponents.
"Once Pandora's box is open, it's always difficult to close it," warned lawyer Lord Keen of Elie, urging the ECJ to throw out the case and "show respect for the UK parliament and the position of UK Government".
May is trying to sell an agreement on a "smooth and orderly" Brexit to a hostile House of Commons, arguing that their choice is to back a deal or face the economic calamity of crashing out of Europe without a plan.
But pro-Europeans hope that if the European court confirms that Britain has the right to stop the countdown then a third option would emerge: stopping Brexit altogether and remaining in the EU.
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"It is fundamental to the treaties -- and to the values of the European Union -- that a member state can choose to revoke its withdrawal from the Union without the need for the unanimous agreement of all the other member states," argued lawyer Aidan O'Neill.
The European Union institutions also oppose the Scottish case, fearing member states will tempted to launch their own speculative exit bids to extract concessions from Brussels -- only to reverse course.
"Can you imagine the state of uncertainty the process would put us in?" argued Karen Banks, a lawyer and senior European Commission official. "There would be chaos, uncertainty."
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