On 30 March 2017 the Government published its White Paper on the Great Repeal Bill: Legislating for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.
The principal purpose of the Great Repeal Bill will be to repeal the European Communities Act 1972 (the "ECA"), which gives effect and priority to EU law in the UK – thereby formally reasserting the sovereignty and independence of domestic law from the EU.
In order to avoid the risk of a large vacuum in UK law when EU law ceases to apply, the Bill will also preserve and convert into domestic law the whole body of EU law applying to the UK at the time it leaves the EU (to the extent it has not already been implemented domestically). The Bill will also create powers for the Government to make secondary legislation in order to adjust EU-derived law that would otherwise no longer operate appropriately once the UK has left the EU (for example because it refers to the involvement of an EU institution or is predicated on access to an EU regime or system). These powers will not be available for policy changes not designed to deal with such deficiencies.
Click here to read the briefing, which contains analysis of the likely impact of the Great Repeal Bill.
Our placemat on the Article 50 process provides a summary of the key issues that are likely to arise following the triggering of Article 50.
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