Dispute resolution after Brexit

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The role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) after Brexit has emerged as one of the flashpoints of negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union. Given the Government’s stated objective to end the direct jurisdiction of the ECJ after Brexit, this paper looks at a range of options for new means of dispute resolution to replace it, including other courts, arbitration mechanisms and committees.

This builds on Brexit and the European Court of Justice, a paper of June 2017 that considered how Parliament should handle the European Court in the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.

The author argued that the UK Government must either back the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Court model or bring forward proposals for an inventive and untested new dispute resolution system for the withdrawal agreement. She cautions against giving in to current EU demands to give the European Court of Justice (ECJ) the final say over the withdrawal agreement, as it will not be neutral in disputes between the UK and the EU.

The report also warned, however, that if the Government tried to insulate the UK from any ECJ influence it could end up with no deal. Any dispute resolution system that challenged the ECJ’s role as final arbiter of EU law would be difficult to negotiate and would likely be struck down by the court.

• Primary Source

EuroppBlog 31.08.17: Could the UK use the EFTA Court to resolve disputes following Brexit? (+ further sources) http://www.europeansources.info/record/could-the-uk-use-the-efta-court-to-resolve-disputes-following-brexit/

ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/

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