UK judges need clarity after Brexit – Lord Neuberger

Author (Corporate)
Series Title
Series Details 08.08.17
Publication Date 08/08/2017
Content Type

Background
The United Kingdom Government took the next step in the process of the UK leaving the European Union on the 13 July 2017 by introducing the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.

Known as the Repeal Bill, it was designed, the government suggested, to ensure that the UK exited the EU with maximum certainty, continuity and control. As far as possible, the same rules and laws would apply on the day after exit as on the day before. It also delivered on our promise to end the supremacy of EU law in the UK.

The Department for Exiting the European Union published a series of Fact Sheets and Explanatory Notes to accompany the publication of the Bill. One of these was called Converting and preserving law. In a paragraph dealing with the ECJ case law: it said:

● The Bill also sets out how retained EU law is to be read and interpreted on and after exit day. Decisions of the CJEU made after exit day will not be binding on UK courts and tribunals, and domestic courts and tribunals will no longer be able to refer cases to the CJEU after exit day.

● Questions on the meaning of retained EU law will be determined by domestic courts in accordance with pre-exit CJEU case law. This case law will have the same binding or precedent status as that of the UK Supreme Court or the High
Court of Justiciary.

Will the UK be bound by judgments of the CJEU made after we leave the EU?

● No. In leaving the EU we will bring an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) in the UK, and the Bill provides that UK courts and tribunals will not be bound by CJEU decisions made after exit.

● UK courts will be able to take CJEU judgments into account when making their decisions, as they can currently do with judgments of other courts around the world - but they will not be required to do so.Report of comments to the BBC by Lord Neuberger, President of the United Kingdom Supreme Court in August 2017. He said that the UK government must provide more clarity about how UK law will be developed after Brexit. He said that Parliament must be 'very clear' in telling the judges what to do about decisions of the ECJ after the UK left the EU.

Lord Neuberger was due to step down as President of the Supreme Court, but his successor, Baroness Hale, had also expressed similar concerns in a speech in Cambridge in July 2017. She said 'We in the courts want the clearest possible guidance from Parliament as to how we should treat EU law after Brexit, but the issues raised are many and complicated'.

Source Link Link to Main Source http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40855526
Related Links
ESO: Background information: The UK plans to leave the European Court of Justice – here’s what it means for you (The Conversation, January 2017) http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-uk-plans-to-leave-the-european-court-of-justice-heres-what-it-means-for-you/
ESO: Background information: Brexit and the ECJ: If the UK plays in EU territory, it has to accept EU rules and referees http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-and-the-ecj-if-the-uk-plays-in-eu-territory-it-has-to-accept-eu-rules-and-referees/
ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/
Evening Standard 11.07.17: EU court rulings 'could still influence UK cases after Brexit', says top judge http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/eu-court-rulings-could-still-influence-british-cases-after-brexit-baroness-hale-a3585221.html
UK: The Supreme Court: Speech, 07.07.17: Lady Hale at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies' Cambridge Lectures 2017 https://www.supremecourt.uk/docs/speech-170707.pdf
Blog: LSE Brexit: Tag: UK and European Law http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/category/ukeuropeanlaw/
Politico, 20.08.17: Ex-British legal chief: May’s red line on ECJ ‘foolish’ http://www.politico.eu/article/ex-british-legal-chief-mays-red-line-on-ecj-foolish/

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