Margaret Gray

Margaret Gray spoke on the Miller judgment, at a breakfast seminar on 31 January 2017 at the Law Library, Dublin.

The event was chaired by John Cooke SC, former Judge at the General Court of the EU, who also commented on the effect of the judgment.  Professor Barrett, UCD, addressed the principal constitutional issue decided by the Supreme Court, outlining the basis for the majority ruling that an Act of Parliament is required before notice of UK withdrawal is given under Article 50 TEU.

Margaret Gray then outlined the specific issues referred by the courts in Northern Ireland, the Supreme Court’s treatment of them and the consequences of that part of the ruling for the devolved administrations.

The event was hosted by the Irish Centre for European Law, of which Margaret is a member of the board of directors.

Andrew Henshaw QC

Eight members of Brick Court Chambers have contributed to the preparation of four papers written on behalf of the Commercial Bar Association (COMBAR) explaining the potential effect of Brexit on important areas of commercial legal practice and business.  The areas covered by these papers, and the members of Chambers who have contributed to them, are:

1. Conflicts of Laws, Jurisdiction, Choice of Court Agreements, Choice of Law, Service of Legal Process and Judicial Assistance in Taking of Evidence (Sir Richard Aikens and Jasbir Dhillon QC)
2. Banking (Fred Hobson)
3. Financial Services (Andrew Henshaw QC)
4. Competition (Daniel Jowell QC, Kelyn Bacon QC, Daniel Piccinin and David Bailey)

These papers were recently submitted to the Ministry of Justice following a meeting with the Lord Chancellor in December attended by a number of members of the COMBAR Brexit Committee. They have now been made available on the COMBAR website here.

Maya Lester QC

The UK Supreme Court has held today that an Act of Parliament is required to authorise ministers to give notice of the decision of the UK to withdraw from the European Union. 8 judges formed the majority judgment (Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Kerr, Lord Clarke, Lord Wilson, Lord Sumption and Lord Hodge), 3 judges dissented (Lord Reed, Lord Carnwath and Lord Hughes).  A link to the judgment is here and to the summary here.

Brick Court Chambers in association with The Times is hosting a discussion of the judgment on Monday 30 January by:

• Rt Hon Michael Gove MP
• Theresa Villiers MP
• Sir Richard Aikens
• Lord Falconer of Thoroton QC
• Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP
• Joanna Cherry QC MP

chaired by David Aaronovitch of The Times

The event is fully booked, however it will be live streamed on the Brick Court YouTube site here.

David Anderson QC has spoken in Belfast to the Irish Centre of European Law (and thereafter to the Northern Irish judges) on the subject of Brexit and the (Irish) Border.  His talks were given on 13 December, the day after the publication by the House of Lords European Union Committee of its report into UK-Irish relations after Brexit.  His PowerPoint presentation is here and a detailed summary of his presentation follows later in this blog post (click ‘continue reading’ below).

Derrick Wyatt QC also spoke at both events, addressing the issue of what happens when the UK triggers Article 50? Derrick spoke about negotiating the withdrawal agreement, possible future trading agreements between the UK and the EU, what might happen with a “hard Brexit” which could fall off a cliff at the end of the 2 year negotiating period, and the particular effects of all of this on Northern Ireland. His paper is here.

Margaret Gray also addressed both events, speaking about potential Brexit Litigation Issues in Northern Ireland. Margaret discussed the potential subject-matters where EU law issues could continue to arise during and after a withdrawal and how there could be unique litigation opportunities for NI citizens and companies over the next few years as the UK’s new relationship with the EU is developed. She also addressed the issue of how state liability for breaches of EU law could continue to be a source of litigation for sometime after a UK departure from the EU. Her paper is here.

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