1. It is time it is made clear that one limb of our constitution - the judicary - will be thrown into legal chaos on exit day. No ifs, no buts, no coconuts! We all know civilised society depends on a functioning legal system; we're unlikely to have that. #FBPE #lawlessBrexit #FBR
2. Brexit has created divisions in Parliament and the public domain. Regardless of whether someone is Pro-EU or Pro-Brexit, there are far-reaching aftereffects relevant to the UK’s exit that must be addressed to ensure continuity and legal certainty on and after exit day.
3. The UK leaving the EU poses a significant challenge not simply for the Government and Parliament but also for the legal systems in the four Nations; it is a legal undertaking of a type and scale that is unique and unprecedented. Its a nightmare. #ABTV #WATON
4. The body of EU law is found in various places & in different constructs. Some of this body of law is embodied in existing UK primary legislation; some comes in the form of secondary legislation. Other components of EU law are directly effective in the UK (via the ECA 1972).
5. Some law is not actually in written form in the UK’s statute book at all. Also, some EU law is non-legislative in nature and instead consists of judgments held in the CJEU, regulatory decisions by EU agencies, or as common law precedent (how UK courts have interpreted EU law).
6. In the interest of continuity and legal certainty, provisions for the amendment of EU law need to be made prior to it coming into effect as UK law. We simply do not have the time for that. Instead we have a copy and paste exercise aka the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill 2017.
7. The amendments will vary in complexity from minor (e.g. repealing references to EU institutions) to major (replacing an EU regime with a UK regime). The process is complicated further cuz that the final structure of that law will depend on the outcome of UK/EU negotiations.
8. The Government will need abnormally wide powers to deliver legal certainty, which would normally need to be tightly limited and subject to close scrutiny by Parliament, for which new scrutiny mechanisms would be needed. The 'repeal bill' does not provide these safeguards.
9. As such, the EUW Bill raises a series of profound, wide-ranging and interlocking constitutional concerns as well as fundamentally undermining legal certainty in a number of ways. Our legal system is not, and will not be, ready for exit day - or for YEARS after.
Unroll, please @threadreaderapp
@nickreeves9876 @mikegalsworthy @thatginamiller #WATON #ABTV
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