Tag: Brexit
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Alex Schwartz: Recent Attempts to Curb Judicial Power in the United Kingdom
The era of Conservative Party government from 2015–2024 was one of great constitutional turmoil in the United Kingdom. In addition to (and partly because of) the controversies surrounding the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, this was also a period of heightened debate about the role of the judiciary, fuelling an unprecedented movement within and…
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Eleni Frantziou and Anurag Deb: Direct Effect, Disapplication, and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: Still Together in Northern Ireland after Dillon?
Between 14 and 16 October 2025, the UK Supreme Court heard the appeal of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (‘SOSNI’) against the Dillon decision of the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal (‘NICA’). The facts of the case have already been explained in an earlier post, so there is no need to rehearse them…
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Kate Ollerenshaw: Smarter Regulation: A Proliferation of Principles
Shortly before the July 2024 general election was called, the Conservative Government published a White Paper on its approach to regulatory reform. Intended to ensure the UK’s regulatory landscape delivered “a world-class service”, Smarter Regulation: Delivering a Regulatory Environment for Innovation, Investment and Growth included a number of proposals to streamline regulation, including a one-stop…
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Brian Christopher Jones: Nigel Farage and the UK Constitution
The upheaval of the UK constitution from 2016 onwards has been associated with a host of individuals, from David Cameron to Boris Johnson to Dominic Cummings, who have received the significant bulk of academic attention in recent years. And yet, another individual has had a substantial impact upon the UK constitution during this time: Nigel…
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Event: Post-Brexit Governance of the United Kingdom’s Territorial Constitution – Call for Papers
We are pleased to issue a call for papers for a one-day workshop exploring the governance of the UK’s territorial constitution post-Brexit. The workshop will be hosted in Liverpool (and online) on 6 June 2023 with funding from the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool, and Wales Governance Centre, Cardiff University. A critical review of…
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Colin Murray: A New Period of “Indirect” Direct Rule – The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Bill
Only a few short months on from the passing of the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Act 2022 and legislation is once again before Westminster to amend the Northern Ireland Act 1998 – as everyone knew that it would be. One of the key innovations in the 2022 Act, belatedly giving effect to a…
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Kate Ollerenshaw: More Haste, Less Speed: Sunset Clauses in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill
There are many points of note for those interested in Constitutional law in the recently published Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill 2022 (“the Bill”). This post focuses on the proposal to bind the Government to accomplishing the complex process of assimilating desirable retained EU law into domestic legislation before a stated deadline using…
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Thomas Horsley and Jo Hunt: In Praise of Cooperation and Consensus under the Territorial Constitution: The Second Report of the House of Lords Common Frameworks Scrutiny Committee
On 16 July 2022, the House of Lords Common Frameworks Scrutiny Committee (CFSC) issued its Second Report on the Common Frameworks. This post summarises the Report’s principal findings and reflects on the future role of the Common Frameworks in the management of domestic intergovernmental relations post-Brexit. Common Frameworks The Common Frameworks Programme was established by…
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Ronan Cormacain: Does the Vienna Convention provide a legal off-ramp for unilaterally changing the Northern Ireland Protocol?
The Northern Ireland Protocol is part of the Withdrawal Agreement, designed to set out the legal parameters of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. The Government proposes to introduce legislation to unilaterally change the Protocol. On the face of it, this would appear to place the Government on the highway to a breach of international law. But are there any off-ramps…
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Stephen Tierney and Alison Young: Constitution Committee report on the Future Governance of the UK
Following a year-long inquiry into the future governance of the United Kingdom, the House of Lords Constitution Committee today publishes its report, Respect and Co-operation: Building a Stronger Union for the 21st century. The document comprises 10 chapters, beginning with reflections upon the state of the Union. It then turns to parliamentary sovereignty, relations between…