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'Great repeal bill' will create sweeping powers to change laws for Brexit 'Great repeal bill' will create sweeping powers to change laws for Brexit
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The government’s “great repeal bill” will create sweeping temporary powers to allow ministers to tweak laws that would otherwise not “work appropriately” after Brexit, David Davis is expected to tell the Commons. The government will create sweeping temporary powers to allow ministers to tweak laws that would otherwise not “work appropriately” after Brexit, David Davis has announced.
According to a leaked copy of his statement to MPs, obtained by the Guardian, Davis will tell MPs that as well as transposing aspects of EU legislation into UK law, the bill, which will be tabled later this year, will create a new power to “correct the statute book”. Unveiling the government’s white paper on the so-called great repeal bill, the Brexit secretary told MPs that as well as transposing aspects of EU legislation into UK law, the bill would create a new power to “correct the statute book”.
“Once EU law has been converted into domestic law, parliament will be able to pass legislation to amend, repeal or improve any piece of EU law it chooses – as will the devolved legislatures, where they have power to do so,” he is expected to say. “Once EU law has been converted into domestic law, parliament will be able to pass legislation to amend, repeal or improve any piece of EU law it chooses – as will the devolved legislatures, where they have power to do so,” he said.
“However, further steps will be needed to provide a smooth and orderly exit. This is because a large number of laws – both existing domestic laws and those we convert into UK law – will not work properly if we leave the EU without taking further action. Some laws, for example, grant functions to an EU institution with which the UK might no longer have a relationship.“However, further steps will be needed to provide a smooth and orderly exit. This is because a large number of laws – both existing domestic laws and those we convert into UK law – will not work properly if we leave the EU without taking further action. Some laws, for example, grant functions to an EU institution with which the UK might no longer have a relationship.
“To overcome this, the great repeal bill will provide a power to correct the statute book where necessary to resolve the problems which will occur as a consequence of leaving the EU”. “To overcome this, the great repeal bill will provide a power to correct the statute book where necessary to resolve the problems which will occur as a consequence of leaving the EU.”
He will pledge that the new powers will be temporary; and will be aimed at ensuring a smooth and orderly transition as the UK leaves the EU – but they are likely to be regarded as a power-grab by some MPs, as they will allow changes to be made with less parliamentary scrutiny. Davis pledged that the new powers would be temporary; and aimed at ensuring a smooth and orderly transition as the UK leaves the EU.
“I can confirm this power will be time-limited. And parliament will need to be satisfied that the procedures in the bill for making and approving the secondary legislation are appropriate.”“I can confirm this power will be time-limited. And parliament will need to be satisfied that the procedures in the bill for making and approving the secondary legislation are appropriate.”
“Given the scale of the changes that will be necessary and the finite amount of time available to make them, there is a balance to be struck between the importance of scrutiny and correcting the statute book in time.“Given the scale of the changes that will be necessary and the finite amount of time available to make them, there is a balance to be struck between the importance of scrutiny and correcting the statute book in time.
“As the constitution committee in the other place recently put it, ‘...the challenge parliament will face is in balancing the need for speed, and thus for governmental discretion, with the need for proper parliamentary control of the content of the UK’s statute book.’“ “As the constitution committee in the other place recently put it, ‘...the challenge parliament will face is in balancing the need for speed, and thus for governmental discretion, with the need for proper parliamentary control of the content of the UK’s statute book.”
The government will also bring European court of justice case law, as it stands on the date we leave the EU, into UK law, giving it the same status as judgments of the UK supreme court. However, the plan was condemned by Labour as a power-grab, allowing changes to be made with less parliamentary scrutiny.
To “maximise certainty” for businesses and others, the bill would keep case law as it stood on the day of exit, will say. “This approach maximises legal certainty at the point of departure. But our intention is not to fossilise the past decisions of the CJEU for ever,” he said, using the official EU acronym for the court. The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, said the proposed bill “gives sweeping powers to the executive” to change regulations.
“As such, we propose that the bill will provide that historic CJEU case law be given the same status in our courts as decisions of our own supreme court.” Starmer argued: “Sweeping, because it proposes a power to use a delegated legislation to correct and thus change primary legislation, and also devolved legislation. Sweeping because of the sheer scale of the exercise.”
He continued: “In those circumstances one might expect some pretty rigorous safeguards to the use of these sweeping powers, but none are found in the white paper. In those circumstances we should go back to first principles – and that is, there should be no change to rights and protections without primary legislation”.
Davis, Starmer said, must “face down those on his own side who will not be able to resist the temptation to water these rights and protections down before they’re even put into this bill”.
In response, Davis said the new powers would not be used for such issues. “I have actually said it in my statement, if he reads it,” he said. “Let me reiterate – the use of delegated legislation will be for technical changes.”
These would be things such as changing regulations to refer to a UK regulatory body rather than the former EU equivalent, he added.
Nick Clegg, who leads on Brexit matters for the Liberal Democrats, praised Davis for “ignoring some of the more over-excitable demands from parts of the Brexit press and some of his backbenchers”.
However, Clegg said there must be reassurance that EU directives on issues such as working time and environmental issues would remain in place, whatever the objections of critics.
Clegg said: “He will know there is a fork in the road: the government will have to either keep those provisions in domestic legislation, in which case they will reasonably say, what on earth was the point of leaving the EU in the first place, or he will remove those provisions, in which case the EU will need exacting safeguards to ensure we’re not undercutting EU standards.”