Tag: Article 50 TEU
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Jeff King: The Prime Minister’s Constitutional Options after the Benn Act: Part I
This is the first of a two-part discussion of this theme. This first part addresses the obligations under the Benn Act and the legal response to attempts to frustrate it; the second part will address non-confidence motions, resignation and change of Government. There has been significant confusion about options open to Government and the opposition…
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Krishan Nadesan: Asking the Impossible: Benn, Kinnock and Extending Article 50
Boris Johnson seems caught in an impossible bind. The European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act – the Benn Act for short – obliges him to seek an extension of Article 50 on 19 October. He can extend, honour the law, but break his promises. He can refuse to extend, honour his promises, but break the…
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Philip Allott: The Legality of a No-Deal Brexit Could Be Challenged
It may be that there is no such thing as a date of 31 October 2019 for a no-deal UK withdrawal from the EU. On 9 April 2019, according to Le Monde, Michel Barnier, chief negotiator for the European Council in the withdrawal negotiations with the UK, said: ‘The EU will never take a decision…
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Menelaos Markakis: A Trojan Horse in the EU? The Curious Case of the EU27+1
The EU27 have agreed to grant the extension requested by the Prime Minister, the terms of which need not be repeated here. Suffice it to say for present purposes that exit day has been moved to 31 October 2019 at the latest, subject to the proviso that an approval of the draft Withdrawal Agreement by…
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David Vitale: Leaving the EU: A Matter of “Trust”?
Since the referendum in 2016, the Government has repeatedly justified its decisions on Brexit by invoking the concept of public trust. In December last year, the Prime Minister rejected the idea of a second referendum because, in her view, it “would do irreparable damage to the integrity of our politics, because it would say to…
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Ewan McGaughey: What Is Needed in Our Constitution to Revoke Article 50?
Professors Gavin Phillipson and Alison Young have argued on this blog that an Act of Parliament is needed to revoke article 50. An alternative view is that, while an Act may be desirable, it is not necessary. This is still an important issue because on Wednesday 27th of March 2019, 184 votes in the House…
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Richard Lang: Consequences of the Extension Deal: A Reply to Professor Allott
I would like to thank Professor Allott for his fascinating post, ‘Unexpected Denouement’. The UK Remains in the EU by Mistake. The Brexit Saga Could Run and Run’ from Tuesday. I just wanted to be advocatus diaboli on a couple of points, although some extremely able advocates, commenting below the original post, should also be…
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Philip Allott: Unexpected Denouement. The UK Remains in the EU by Mistake. The Brexit Saga Could Run and Run
The two-year time-limit in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union has come and gone. It is now possible that no withdrawal agreement between the European Council and the UK will be concluded. This means that the UK would leave the EU in catastrophic circumstances on April 12. An interesting final irony would be…
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Kasey McCall-Smith: The Realities of Being Global: Treaty Law and Brexit
Throughout the two years of Brexit debates following Article 50 notification, the UK Government and Parliament consistently have failed to recognise that even if EU law is no longer applicable after Brexit, the UK is still bound to a broad gamut of rules under international law. Apparently attempting to appease Brexiteers, on 11 March Theresa…
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Sam Fowles: Extending Article 50 – Key Legal Issues
With the second defeat of Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement, the subsequent vote to reject a “no-deal” Brexit, and the proposed votes today to extend the Art. 50 period, we must consider the legal practicalities of such an extension. Art. 50(2) provides that, once a state has submitted a notification that it intends to leave the…