'Fundamental constitutional law issues' ahead as UK's Repeal Bill begins second reading, says expert

The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill provides for the repeal of the 1972 European Communities Act, which gives recognition to the superiority of EU law in the UK, and the transfer of any legislation applicable in the UK through EU law at the point of exit directly onto the statute book.

EU law expert Guy Lougher of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, described the bill as a "hugely significant piece of legislation which raises fundamental constitutional law issues, as well as a host of legal issues concerning the future workability of the UK statute book across multiple sectors".

"The bill is likely to attract significant debate within parliament," he said.

He said, "for example, in advance of the Commons second reading of the Bill, the House of Lords Constitution Committee issued a report setting out the committee's constitutional concerns. The report summary says that the Committee considers there are 'apparent multiple ambiguities' in the bill which it considers are 'deeply problematic' from a legal perspective".

"It is clear that the wording of the bill is going to be scrutinised extremely carefully from a legal, as well as a political, perspective," he said.

In its new report the committee, which is chaired by Labour peer Baroness Taylor, said that the bill raised "a series of profound, wide-ranging and inter-locking constitutional concerns". It is particularly concerned about the "extraordinary" powers that the bill as drafted would grant to the government, allowing it to 'correct' the post-Brexit statute book through the use of secondary legislation.

The committee has asked the government for its assurance that these powers will only be used to make essential technical changes to the law, and will not be used to implement policy decisions. It said any delegated legislation which contains significant policy decisions must be subject to "meaningful scrutiny" by parliament. It has also asked the government to address the bill's "multiple uncertainties and ambiguities", so that in the Committee's view individuals, organisations and the government know exactly what the law is post-Brexit without having to resort to litigation.

The government has estimated that between 800 and 1,000 statutory instruments will be needed to make all the necessary post-Brexit amendments to UK laws.