World | Tue Jul 19, 2016 10:13am EDT

Britain will not start EU divorce this year, government lawyer says

LONDON | BY MICHAEL HOLDEN

Britain will not begin its formal divorce from the European Union this year, a government lawyer said on Tuesday at the start of the first legal action prompted by last month's referendum vote to exit the bloc.

At least seven lawsuits have been brought to force the government to accept that only parliament has the authority to decide whether Britain should trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal exit process, rather than the prime minister.

Newly appointed Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed to press ahead with so-called Brexit but has previously indicated that Article 50, which starts a two-year countdown to leaving the bloc, should not be invoked before 2017.

Some European leaders have urged Britain to get on with the exit process, but in the first official confirmation that it would not be started this year, government lawyer Jason Coppel told London's High Court: "The current position is that notification will not occur before the end of 2016."

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