PLP has published our briefing on the UK Internal Market Bill today.

PLP shares the serious concerns raised by many other commentators about the provisions of the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill (‘the Bill’) which seek to authorise Ministers to act in contravention of the UK’s obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement, an international treaty which has been ratified by the UK and implemented into domestic law by the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020, as recently as January 2020.

In this briefing we highlight two key areas of particular concern with the Bill, as they relate to PLP’s areas of expertise: 

  • The introduction of delegated powers which purport to authorise Ministers to act in contravention of domestic and international law; and
  • The attempt to immunise Ministerial use of delegated powers from legal challenge.

The significant implications of such a decision for the Rule of Law have been well ventilated. Parliament should be under no illusions as to the serious and far-reaching ramifications of enacting this legislation.

You can read the full briefing here.

You can read, here, the response from the Minister responsible for legal aid, Alex Chalk MP.