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UK could remain under control of EU court for years, ministers suggest UK could remain under control of EU court for years, ministers suggest
(about 3 hours later)
Britain could remain under the direct control of the European court of justice for years after Brexit, it has emerged, and still be forced to implement the court’s rulings on vexed issues such as immigration.Britain could remain under the direct control of the European court of justice for years after Brexit, it has emerged, and still be forced to implement the court’s rulings on vexed issues such as immigration.
The expanding scale of the prime minister’s climbdown over her promise to “take back control of British law” was revealed as the government published its latest position paper on dispute resolution before the next round of Brexit talks.The expanding scale of the prime minister’s climbdown over her promise to “take back control of British law” was revealed as the government published its latest position paper on dispute resolution before the next round of Brexit talks.
While stressing that the range of examples given in the report are hypothetical, the government mainly outlines scenarios in which “direct” ECJ authority is eventually replaced by a new court or committee over which Europe maintains “indirect” control.While stressing that the range of examples given in the report are hypothetical, the government mainly outlines scenarios in which “direct” ECJ authority is eventually replaced by a new court or committee over which Europe maintains “indirect” control.
It has also become clear that the UK government is now open to preserving the direct authority of the ECJ throughout the interim transition period after March 2019 – during which it is expected to spend years negotiating a new trade agreement. It has also become clear that the UK government is now open to preserving the direct authority of the ECJ throughout the interim transition period after March 2019.
The Luxembourg-based court of justice of the European Union is the highest court in Europe. Panels of judges from member states sit to interpret whether EU law is being fairly applied and can issue binding rulings over national courts.The Luxembourg-based court of justice of the European Union is the highest court in Europe. Panels of judges from member states sit to interpret whether EU law is being fairly applied and can issue binding rulings over national courts.
The ECJ has had a relatively benign history with the UK – unlike the more contentious European court of human rights in Strasbourg – but nonetheless became a symbol of compromised sovereignty during the Brexit referendum. The EU has insisted that any future agreements on citizens’ rights and access to the single market must continue to be policed by the ECJ.The ECJ has had a relatively benign history with the UK – unlike the more contentious European court of human rights in Strasbourg – but nonetheless became a symbol of compromised sovereignty during the Brexit referendum. The EU has insisted that any future agreements on citizens’ rights and access to the single market must continue to be policed by the ECJ.
See our full Brexit phrasebookSee our full Brexit phrasebook
News of the government’s evolving position has led to a growing political storm this week, with Tory Brexit supporters claiming Theresa May is abandoning the hardline position she set out in last year’s Conservative party conference speech and in a speech at Lancaster House in January. However, the government remains determined to reject the EU’s demand that the ECJ act as the guarantor of the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, insisting these must be upheld by UK courts. That risks derailing talks in Brussels before the British negotiator, David Davis, can switch the discussion on to trade and future relations.
European determination to use the ECJ to protect the rights of its citizens and companies after Brexit is forcing the UK into a corner and threatens to derail talks in Brussels before the British negotiator, David Davis, can switch the discussion on to trade and future relations. Before the launch of the new policy paper on Wednesday, the justice minister Dominic Raab conceded the UK would have to keep “half an eye” on rulings by the European Union’s highest court in future.
Before the launch of the new policy paper, the justice minister Dominic Raab conceded the UK would have to keep “half an eye” on rulings by the European Union’s highest court in future.
“The UK will engage constructively to negotiate an approach to enforcement and dispute resolution, which meets the key objectives of both the UK and the EU in underpinning the effective operation of a new, deep and special partnership,” concludes the policy paper.“The UK will engage constructively to negotiate an approach to enforcement and dispute resolution, which meets the key objectives of both the UK and the EU in underpinning the effective operation of a new, deep and special partnership,” concludes the policy paper.
However, in the run-up to the publication of the paper, May insisted ministers had not climbed down over the role of the ECJ. She said the UK would “take back control” of its laws after being accused of a climbdown on axing links with European courts. The government’s position as set out in the paper appeared to be considerably more nuanced than May’s promise in her party conference speech last year that, “we are not leaving only to return to the jurisdiction of the European court of justice. That’s not going to happen.”
Andrew Adonis, the Labour peer and backer of campaign group Open Britain, called the government’s stance, “a climbdown camouflaged in jingoistic rhetoric”.
“Not much is left of David Davis’s so-called red line of taking back control from European judges,” Lord Adonis said. “In almost every example the government gives – from the Efta court, to the EEA agreement to the EU-Moldova deal – the ECJ has substantial direct or indirect power over the proposed new relationship between Britain and the EU. And they have confirmed that every past judgment of the ECJ will stand after we leave.”
But pro-Brexit MPs appeared satisfied with the compromise. Sir Bill Cash, the arch-Eurosceptic Conservative MP and chair of the European scrutiny committee, was satisfied that the position paper showed the UK was leaving the jurisdiction of the European court of justice, although he was uncomfortable about the repeated emphasis on the word “direct”.
“This word ‘direct’ has crept in and it’s unnecessary and doesn’t make any real difference,” he said. “The real point is that the jurisdiction of the European court ceases when we leave the treaties because the sole and exclusive basis on which the European court has any jurisdiction whatsoever in the United Kingdom is entirely because of the existence of those treaties, which will cease to apply, and the European Communities Act. When those go, end of story.
“It’s not exactly rocket science and I think there is a lot of absurd chatter coming from the remain/reverse camp, which are more in expectation and hope than reality. I’ve heard them chattering on this morning and it’s all rather pathetic. The real truth is that they don’t understand constitutional decision-making.”
The Conservative former cabinet minister John Redwood dismissed claims that the red line on the ECJ had been blurred. “The paper very clearly says that once we leave in March 2019 or earlier, the ECJ will no longer have jurisdiction in the UK ... and it goes on to say that if, for example, we have a trade agreement then the most obvious model for resolving any disputes is to accept the World Trade Organisation disputes procedure. This paper makes it very clear that the ECJ’s jurisdiction ends the day we leave,” he told the BBC.
In the run-up to the publication of the paper, May insisted ministers had not changed their stance on the role of the ECJ. She said the UK would “take back control” of its laws.
Speaking during a visit to Guildford, the prime minister said: “What is absolutely clear, when we leave the European Union we will be leaving the jurisdiction of the European court of justice. Parliament will make our laws. It is British judges who will interpret those laws and it will be the British supreme court that will be the arbiter of those laws.”Speaking during a visit to Guildford, the prime minister said: “What is absolutely clear, when we leave the European Union we will be leaving the jurisdiction of the European court of justice. Parliament will make our laws. It is British judges who will interpret those laws and it will be the British supreme court that will be the arbiter of those laws.”
The UK government is, however, prepared to enter negotiations about the role of the ECJ during the interim implementation phase that it admitted last week was necessary to negotiate new customs and trade relations. It is understood this may involve maintaining direct control for a limited period. The government is, however, prepared to enter negotiations about the role of the ECJ during the interim implementation phase that it admitted last week was necessary to negotiate new customs and trade relations. It is understood this may involve maintaining direct control for a limited period.
In the long run, the government draws a distinction between enforcement mechanisms and dispute resolution once the new Brexit agreement is in effect, arguing that individual complaints can be dealt with solely by UK courts and only government disputes escalated to the new arbitration body.In the long run, the government draws a distinction between enforcement mechanisms and dispute resolution once the new Brexit agreement is in effect, arguing that individual complaints can be dealt with solely by UK courts and only government disputes escalated to the new arbitration body.
However, test cases involving individuals appealing against unfair treatment by, for example, UK immigration authorities may quickly escalate into a dispute over the interpretation of the whole agreement, potentially allowing the ECJ to step in on behalf of aggrieved EU citizens.However, test cases involving individuals appealing against unfair treatment by, for example, UK immigration authorities may quickly escalate into a dispute over the interpretation of the whole agreement, potentially allowing the ECJ to step in on behalf of aggrieved EU citizens.
The government insists there remains a meaningful difference between direct and indirect control, although it concedes that in some of the scenarios it outlines – such as in an agreement between the EU and Moldova – there may be little practical option but to agree to rulings from the ECJ or else see the whole agreement fall apart.The government insists there remains a meaningful difference between direct and indirect control, although it concedes that in some of the scenarios it outlines – such as in an agreement between the EU and Moldova – there may be little practical option but to agree to rulings from the ECJ or else see the whole agreement fall apart.
It argues arbitration courts and committees are standard practice for the EU though and need not involve a direct role for the ECJ over national law in the first instance.
Sir Paul Jenkins QC, a former head of the government’s legal department, said the government paper contemplated a legal solution similar to that adopted by Efta (the European Free Trade Association), which has its own non-binding court. He tweeted: “If only those of us who predicted an Efta-like solution a year ago had put money on it.”
Other legal commentators viewed proposals for “voluntary references” to the ECJ to interpret EU rules as a significant softening of the government’s red line over judicial independence in its Brexit negotiating position.
The proposals were welcomed by Gunnar Beck, a barrister and EU constitutional law expert who also works for the thinktank Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project, which has adopted a pro-Brexit position. He said: “Today’s paper sets out an interesting and intelligent starting vision of future cooperation between UK and EU which more closely resembles other agreements between sovereign states rather than subjection to the European legal order.”
Mathew Rea, a partner at the law firm Bryan Cave, said: “This is a clear backtrack on the government’s previous stance that the ECJ would be a red line in the Brexit negotiations and that there could be no future role whatsoever for the ECJ post-Brexit.”
Catherine Barnard, professor of EU law at Cambridge University, who has questioned whether the UK can escape the ECJ’s jurisdiction while remaining close to the single market, tweeted: “Can it be summed up as UK heading in direction of Efta court and EEA at least temporarily?”
Andrew Langdon QC, chair of the Bar Council which represents barristers in England and Wales, said: “The paper raises more questions than it seeks to answer on what is a matter of crucial significance to the UK. A number of suggested alternate mechanisms to the CJEU are listed, though it is not clear which, if any, the government favours.
“Whatever agreement the UK reaches with the EU, there must be some form of dispute resolution process with the EU post-Brexit in which all parties have confidence.”