The Government yesterday indicated for the first time that there will be no Parliamentary vote before triggering Article 50.
This means that the result of the various judicial review claims due to be heard by a Divisional Court in London in October (reported on this blog here), and by the High Court in Northern Ireland (here), will be crucial. These claims are likely to end up in the Supreme Court before Christmas.
We have reported on this blog (e.g. here) on the judicial review proceedings that are underway challenging the Government’s ability to trigger Article 50 of the EU Treaty without recourse to Parliament. Proceedings have now been brought in Northern Ireland too (press release here); the case was lodged in the High Court in Belfast on Friday (19 August 2016). The claimants are (among others) members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, people with associations with the voluntary & community sector, and human rights organisations. The press release states that the claim differs from the judicial reviews brought in the Divisional Court in London in that (for example) they raise issues of Northern Irish constitutional law, the Belfast-Good Friday Agreement, and EU law incorporated into the law of Northern Ireland by the European Communities Act 1972.
Brick Court Chambers presents a series of seminars on the legal implications of Brexit.
Location: The Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL from 6pm:
Registration details and further information will follow in September
Prime Minister Theresa May’s confirmation last week that the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Mann will be involved in Brexit negotiations has been welcomed by senior politicians from the islands.
The Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are not part of the UK but are self-governing possessions of the Crown (defined uniquely in each jurisdiction) with their own constitution, legislature and laws. The Crown (through the UK government) may legislate for the islands by Acts of Parliament or Order in Council and is responsible for their foreign affairs, including the making and breaking of the EU Treaties, but these powers are subject to important constitutional limitations.
Previous blog posts on “Jurisdiction and Brexit” and “Contractual proper law and Brexit” have considered the possibility that when the UK leaves the EU, questions of jurisdiction and the law applicable to contractual obligations might fall to be determined by default by rules set out in the Brussels and Rome Conventions respectively. This post considers which rules might apply to determine the law applicable to tortious claims post Brexit.
Brexit Law 