Prime Minister Theresa May’s government suffered a significant defeat last week, when Parliament voted in favor of an amendment to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill 2017-19.
The amendment, which was tabled by Conservative MP and former attorney general Dominic Grieve, forces the government to give MPs a meaningful vote on the Brexit deal before it is finalised and for it to be written into law.
Writing for Thomson Reuters’ Practical Law Public Sector Blog, Daniel Greenberg, Consultant Parliamentary Counsel; General Editor, Annotated Statutes and Insight at Westlaw UK, analyses the technical legal impact made by the amendment.
The amendment to the Bill operates on Clause 9 of the EU Withdrawal Bill which presently gives ministers power to make regulations for the purposes of implementing the withdrawal agreement, Greenberg said. Amendment 7 makes the power subject to ‘the prior enactment of a statute by Parliament approving the final terms of withdrawal of the UK from the European Union.’
Greenberg added that the Bill is already ‘complicated’ and, as a matter of law, the government defeat on the amendment to Clause 9 has only added to the complexity of the Bill, but the enactment of the clause, in parliamentary tactical terms, is an unusual one. Once the amendment has been carried into the Bill it effectively weakens Clause 9(1), in the sense that nothing can now be done by regulations under the clause without a prior approval Act; and that Act would be able either to implement the withdrawal agreement itself, or to confirm more focused enabling powers to allow the withdrawal agreement to be implemented. So, one way or another it leaves nothing for Clause 9 to do.
Following the defeat, government lawyers will be looking at the impact of the amendment to the Bill and considering the available options, and establishing what ways, if any, the agreement can be implemented.
The defeat to Clause 9 has certainly exacerbated the inherent complexity of the Bill, and Greenberg added that ‘it is impossible that it will not complicate the Brexit process overall if the limitation on Clause 9 can be circumvented by the use of other mechanisms for implementation of the withdrawal agreement.’
To read more on the implications of the amendment to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, read the original article here.
