EU negotiators for Brexit

Michel Barnier

The President of the European Commission has announced that French politician Michel Barnier will lead the Commission's "taskforce" negotiating with the UK on Brexit - Commission announcement 27th July.   Michel Barnier, as Chief Negotiator, will be ranked at Director-General level and will take up his duties as of 1 October 2016.  The announcement states that - "In line with the principle of 'no negotiation without notification', the task of the Chief Negotiator in the coming months will be to prepare the ground internally for the work ahead. Once the Article 50 process is triggered, he will take the necessary contacts with the UK authorities and all other EU and Member State interlocutors."

Five UK Supreme Court judgments

Here are links to the latest five judgments of the Supreme Court of the UK:

(1) Lee-Hirons (Appellant) v Secretary of State for Justice (Respondent)
Lady Hale, Lord Kerr, Lord Wilson, Lord Reed, Lord Toulson

(2) Bailey and another (Respondents) v Angove's PTY Limited (Appellant)
Lord Neuberger, Lord Clarke, Lord Sumption, Lord Carnwath, Lord Hodge

(3) Hayward (Respondent) v Zurich Insurance Company plc (Appellant)
Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Clarke, Lord Reed, Lord Toulson

(4) Secretary of State for the Home Department (Appellant) v Franco Vomero (Italy) (Respondent)
Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Wilson, Lord Reed, Lord Hughes

(5) Hastings Borough Council (Appellant) v Manolete Partners Plc (Respondent)
Lady Hale, Lord Kerr, Lord Carnwath, Lord Toulson, Lord Hodge


In the present circumstances of Brexit - Number 4 will be of particular interest since it concerns whether an individual convicted of manslaughter may be deported from the UK.  The court has made references to the Court of Justice of the EU with a view to clarification of the law.

Beyond Brexit ~ EFTA and EEA?

Sunrise Scarborough 26/07/16

Alternatives to membership of the EU are under active consideration.  As a member of the EU, the UK is also a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) but is not a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).   This post takes a brief look at the EEA and EFTA.   

Whatever alternative to EU membership comes about it is perhaps worth reflecting that the government (any government) can only do its best to juggle the various balls including the possibility of considerable difficulty with Scotland and Northern Ireland.  There is going to be no silver bullet solution and any solution is bound to disappoint some people.

One alternative to EU membership may be for the UK to continue its EEA membership and join EFTA.  This post does not discuss whether this is possible politically but readers will find this article by Aidan O'Neill QC * interesting as well as looking back at the information published by the government during the referendum campaign on alternatives to EU membership.  

Elizabeth Mary Truss sworn in as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain

The swearing in of a new Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain takes place in the courtroom of the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. Thanks to the Law Society Gazette, the recent ceremony may be viewed online - Law Society Gazette 22nd July 2016.  Elizabeth Truss is the first female holder of the office of Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain - (usually abbreviated to Lord Chancellor or LC).  Great Britain dates from the Act of Union with Scotland.

There is much play

Human Rights and Legal Aid - what will the new government do?

We know that, as Home Secretary, Theresa May was not a fan - (her word not mine - read this) - of the European Convention on Human Rights which she saw as making it difficult to achieve her policy objectives.  She is on record as saying that the UK should leave the European Convention - Theresa May's speech on Brexit 25th April 2016.  We also know that the Conservative Party manifesto in 2015 promised a British Bill of Rights to replace what was described as "Labour's Human Rights Act."  The manifesto said (page 73):

"We will scrap Labour's Human Rights Act and introduce a British Bill of Rights which will restore common sense to the application of human rights in the UK.   The Bill will remain faithful to the basic principles of human rights, which we signed up to in the original European Convention on Human Rights."

Some Friday reflections ~ 4 weeks after the referendum and 2 after Chilcot

4 weeks have elapsed since the EU referendum result was announced and the "fall out" from that momentous decision is continuing.  Whilst many of the issues were entirely foreseeable, they must now be addressed.

Those weeks have seen the appointment, by HM The Queen, of Theresa May as Prime Minister and the formation of a new central government for the United Kingdom.  No general election is required (see footnote) and is not permitted anyway unless the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011 is followed.

Precedent in English law ~ an interesting decision of the Supreme Court

On 9th January 2016 this blog looked at the High Court's decision in Willers v Gubay - post 9th January.   The basic question was whether there was a tort of malicious prosecution of CIVIL (as opposed to criminal) proceedings.  The High Court followed a House of Lords decision in which it had been that there was no such tort in English law.  However, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) had held, by a majority, that there was such a tort and that was a decision of a JCPC board whose members were all judges of the Supreme Court of the UK.

The High Court was bound by the House of Lords (unanimous) decision in Gregory v Portsmouth City Council [2000] 1 AC 419 (Lords Browne-Wilkinson, Nicholls, Steyn, Hobhouse and Millett).