Retained EU Law Bill will damage UK’s reputation, says Bar Council

Ahead of the second reading of the Retained EU Law Bill in the House of Lords on Monday, the Bar Council has welcomed the report of the House of Lords’ Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee ‘Losing Control?: The implication for Parliament of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill’.

The report identifies the ways in which the Committee believes the Bill “runs directly counter to the principles of parliamentary democracy” and concludes that the Bill should be amended “so that the shift in power between Parliament and the executive is reversed.”

The Bar Council has briefed Peers ahead of the second reading on Monday 6 February setting out similar concerns and recommending a series of amendments.

Commenting, Chair of the Bar Nick Vineall KC said:

“The Bar Council is deeply concerned about the REUL Bill which, in its present form, will damage the UK’s reputation for regulatory stability, predictability, and competence on which growth-promoting investment in critical sectors of our economy depends.  

“The Lords Scrutiny Committee has rightly identified the need for the Bill to be amended to address the imbalance of power.

“There is a great deal to be said for taking advantage of the opportunity to review EU-derived secondary legislation and consider whether these rules should be adopted, adapted, or rejected. But there is no sense in squandering this opportunity by attempting to do so at breakneck speed, and it is anti-democratic to do so without proper parliamentary scrutiny.”