The Great Repeal Bill and the Charter of Fundamental Rights – not a promising start

The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis announced on the 2 October 2016 that the United Kingdom Government planned to repeal the 1972 European Communities Act (ECA). The Act gave direct effect to all EU law and the introduction of a new Bill to repeal it would mean the Act ceased to apply from the day of exit.

At the same time the new Bill would convert existing EU law into domestic law, while allowing Parliament to amend, repeal or improve any law after appropriate scrutiny and debate.

The Great Repeal Bill would end European Court of Justice jurisdiction in the UK.

On the 29 March 2017 the UK Government formally triggered Article 50 TEU, the process for the start of the negotiations for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.

On the following day (30 March 2017) a White Paper called Legislating for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union was published.

The Great Repeal Bill White Paper set out the government’s proposals for ensuring a functioning statute book once the UK had left the European Union.

It provided the detail about:

+ the repeal of the European Communities Act 1972
+ how EU law would be converted into UK law
+ how corrections would be made to the statute book, to ensure the law continues to function once the UK had left the EU.

However in this blog, the author says that 'there is a piece of EU Law that will not be incorporated into UK Law. This is no ordinary or irrelevant piece. It is the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. It is another revealing sign of the impact that Brexit will have in the UK and, above all, for UK citizens and their rights'.

• Primary Source

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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