Practical Law has published an article, Brexit and legislating for withdrawal: two steps forward…, which analyses some some of the key points of the White Paper on Legislating for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, by Daniel Greenberg, General Editor, Annotated Statutes and Insight Encyclopaedia, Westlaw UK, and Editor, Craies on Legislation. Read an excerpt below and head to Practical Law’s Brexit resources collection for the full article, as well as all the key analysis on the legal implications of the UK leaving the European Union.
White Paper on legislating for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union: key points
The government’s much awaited White Paper on Legislating for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (the paper) aims to set out the government’s legislative strategy for preparing for Brexit, and, primarily, the intended mechanics of the Great Repeal Bill (GRB) (see Legal update, Government publishes White Paper on Legislating for the United Kingdom’s Withdrawal from the European Union).
Below are some thoughts on areas that the paper clarifies, and areas where further detail may still be required. (For general information on the GRB, see Practice note, Brexit: Article 50 and the withdrawal process: Great Repeal Bill.)
Transposition of new EU law
The paper says that “the government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU law during this period” (paragraph 1.10). In practical terms, this may neither be fully possible or desirable. Apart from the fact that the government’s negotiating influence in relation to future law in Brussels will, at the very least, be diminished by the UK’s imminent departure, implementation and application are presumably bound to reflect the transitional nature of this period; and in practical political terms, this is inevitably going to be connected with the discussions over the “divorce bill” and other matters about the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
Hopefully, therefore, the legal community will not see full-scale implementation of large tranches of legislation that are known to be purely transitory in their UK effect, but a nuanced form of transitional implementation and enactment that recognises the present political realities and the post-Brexit day legal realities.
Access the full article on Practical Law to read Daniel Greenberg’s analysis of the impact of the withdrawal legislation on:
Interim provisions
Freezing EU-based UK law as at Brexit day
Future bills
New secondary legislation powers
CJEU decisions
Charter of Fundamental Rights
Click here to access the full version of Brexit and legislating for withdrawal: two steps forward… on Practical Law.
