On November 3, 2016, the U.K. High Court ruled that before the U.K. can invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would officially begin the process of withdrawing from the European Union, it must receive approval from Parliament. According to reports, the government was “relying on a power called the royal prerogative that lets the government withdraw from international treaties.” The Court ruled, however, that the royal prerogative was subject to parliamentary approval in this circumstance because invoking Article 50 would remove rights that were introduced by an act of Parliament when the U.K. joined the EU. An announcement by the Court laid out the process for appealing the ruling to the U.K. Supreme Court, which commentators expect to occur before the end of the year. Separately, a challenge to the legality of the Brexit proceedings was rejected by the High Court in Northern Ireland.