“If rights are as uncertain as the weather this is also really bad for business, because what business likes is certainty,” said Peretz.īoth barristers, who gave expert evidence to a parliamentary committee on the REUL, also pointed out that the government has retained “sweeping ministerial powers” to reform, delete or save laws without the usual parliamentary scrutiny. “They might argue that staff illness or industrial action is outside their control and they no longer have to pay the compensation,” he said. They could argue that the disruption was outside their control and therefore covered by force majeure rules, which are currently restricted to exceptional events such as terrorism. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.Īirlines, for instance, feeling the pinch, could decide to renege on the current guarantee of compensation for delayed or cancelled flights. For more information see our Privacy Policy. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. He said it would have widespread impact on consumers, commercial interests and environmental protections, which campaign groups have been fighting to save in the face of the hard Brexiter legislation. “You might know the laws that remain on the statute books but you won’t know how to interpret them,” said George Peretz KC, an expert on the issue. The government announced it will reduce the number of laws it was going to remove from the statute books but also said it will be scrapping the rule that sets out how laws are interpreted, effectively voiding precedents set by courts and tribunals up and down the country over the past 47 years.

“Now all of a sudden they are throwing that out the window and fundamental rights are going to be deleted by this law.”Īt stake is the concept of “interpretive effect”, something the government refers to as the “supremacy of EU law”. “We did that to provide certainty,” she said.

“It was a reckless piece of legislation from the start and it is still a reckless piece of legislation,” she added.ĭuhs, who specialises in data laws, previously worked with Dominic Raab to retain EU law when Brexit happened. “It is welcome, but there is still a precipice for rights, liabilities and powers. “The government’s change of approach reducing the number of laws is catching the headlines,” said Eleonar Duhs, partner at Bates Wells and one of the lawyers who worked on retaining EU law in the Brexit department.

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