The UK Supreme Court said on Friday it would allow The Lord Advocate, Scotland’s most senior lawyer, to address the December hearing into whether UK Prime Minister Theresa May needs to win UK parliamentary approval before triggering the UK’s exit process from the European Union.

The High Court already ruled that UK parliamentary approval was required before the formal process of leaving the EU could begin, but the British government is appealing to the Supreme Court.

“Counsel for the Scottish Government and for the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain have been invited to address in their skeleton arguments the relevance of points of Scots Law, so far as they do not also form part of the law of England and Wales, to the determination of the present proceedings,” said the Supreme Court in a statement.

The Supreme Court confirmed the following applications to intervene had been granted:

• The Lord Advocate, Scottish Government
• The Counsel General for Wales, Welsh Government
• The ‘Expat Interveners’, George Birnie and Others
• The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain

“Additionally, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland has made a reference to the Court regarding devolution issues relating to that jurisdiction,” said the Supreme Court.

“Permission to intervene is therefore not necessary.”