Tag: European Union (Withdrawal) Bill
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Anurag Deb: The Unquiet Irish Border Problem: Implications in the Aftermath of the Withdrawal Act
On 26 June 2018, the hitherto hotly-debated European Union (Withdrawal) Bill became an Act of Parliament (“2018 Act”) after a tennis match of amendments and counter-amendments between Parliament’s two Houses. Much has been said by leading academics about the contents of the 2018 Act both during its stormy passage through Parliament and after its enactment…
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Stephen Tierney: The Legislative Supremacy of Government
At the same time as Parliament prepares to ‘take back control’ from Brussels, the executive is in fact accruing to itself further control over the legislative process. In this post I address a number of trends – only some of which are a direct consequence of the unique circumstances of Brexit – which suggest a…
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Alison Young: European Union (Withdrawal) Bill and the Meaningful Vote: Constititutional Inconsistency or Constitutional Inconvenience?
This post will focus on the constitutional issues arising from the debate on the ‘meaningful vote’. There have been various solutions proposed in legislative amendments by the House of Lords, the Government, and by MPs – so much so that it is almost impossible to keep track. The House of Lords originally imposed requirements for…
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Francis Young: Parliament and Taking Back Control: A Precedent from the Maastricht Debates
This post considers whether it is a convention of the British constitution that Parliament cannot direct the executive in the making of treaties. The context, of course, is the current tussle over whether the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill should be amended to allow the House of Commons a “meaningful vote” on the outcome of the…
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Jack Simson Caird: Parliament’s Right to a ‘Meaningful Vote’: Amendments to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill
On Tuesday 12 June 2018, the Government will ask the House of Commons to reject the Lords’ meaningful vote amendment to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill (Lords Amendment 19). If the amendment is rejected, the Government will ask the Commons to accept its own alternative version, known as an ‘amendment in lieu’. If either amendment is…
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Francis Young: “Packing” the Lords: Some Legal Reflections
The recent string of Government defeats in the House of Lords over amendments to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill has reignited the debate over the role of the Lords in a modern democracy. The Daily Mail published a characteristically trenchant headline suggesting that we should “pull the plug” on the “traitors in ermine”. The abolition of…
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Alison Young: Status of EU Law Post Brexit: Part Two
In an earlier blog post, I argued that whilst the Government’s amendments provided some clarity as to the status of retained EU law post Brexit, they failed to provide a complete account, giving rise to a potential for further uncertainty in the future. This post will examine two further issues – whether the amendments respond…
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Alison Young: Status of EU Law Post Brexit: Part One
It is well-known that the status of retained EU law post Brexit was originally left undefined by the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, save that it is classified as primary legislation for the purposes of the Human Rights Act 1998. This led to criticism of the Bill, leading to a suggested recommendation from the House of…
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Paul Craig: European Union (Withdrawal) Bill: Legal Status and Effect of Retained Law
In an earlier posting I intimated that the initial divide between EU measures that should be regarded as primary legislation post-Brexit and those that should be regarded as secondary measures would not be too difficult to draw. When the initial divide had been made it could then be decided whether the status of any such…
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Christopher McCorkindale and Aileen McHarg: Continuity and Confusion: Legislating for Brexit in Scotland and Wales (Part II)
Editors’ note: This is the first of a two-part post on the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill, introduced into the Scottish Parliament on 27 February 2018, and the Law Derived from the European Union (Wales) Bill. Part I can be found here. Introduction Part one of this post examined the…