EU

• Theme 1: For - Higher courts can't strike down legislation

  • the UK accepted the supremacy of EU Law over laws passed by Parliament and therefore the sovereignty of EU law.
  • a law was passed by the UK Parliament that contradicted EU law, the European Court of Justice and Supreme Court could strike it down and force Parliament to remove/change it.
  • 1990 Factortame Case, when the Law Lords ruled that the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 passed by the UK Parliament breached EU law as it required UK registered ships to have a majority of British owners
• Theme 1: Against

  • northern ireland remains aligned with eu law in some areas
  • over 300 eu directives and regulations continue to apply in northern ireland
  • e.g. goods produced in northern ireland must comply with eu law
  • application of eu law in northern ireland is subject to eu oversight as if it were a member state
  • the uk gov could be taken to european court of justice if it didn't comply with areas of eu law that still apply in northern ireland
• Theme 2: For - parliament can now legislate on topics previously controlled by eu

  • when uk was a member of eu they controlled trade, agriculture, fisheries and other aspects of regulation
  • limits parliament as there were key areas of policy they could not legislate on
  • now that they've left they have the power to legislate on all areas of policy
  • number of regulations on ports were removed increasing efficiency for the uk's ports
  • illegal immigration bill introduced
• Theme 2: Against

  • those who supported eu membership argued sovereignty wasn't lost with eu membership but pooled with sovereignty of other countries
  • whilst in eu, uk was able to have this pooled sovereignty whilst also having opt outs
  • for example britain opted out fro adopting the euro as currency
  • by leaving the eu, the uk has lost its greater global influence
• Theme 3: Against - executive sovereignty increased?

  • much of the control gained after leaving the eu has been gained by executive rather than parliament
  • eu law incorporated in uk law has been done through secondary legislation not primary
  • between 1993 and 2014, whilst just 231 acts of parliament were passed that implemented eu obligation, over 4200 pieces of secondary legislation were passed that did so
  • significant area of policy control regained - trade - uk gov have power to make trade deals without parliamentary approval
  • march 2023 uk-asia trade deal signed without parliamentary consent
• Theme 3: For

  • number of supreme court cases during the process of leaving the eu strengthened parliamentary sovereignty against an overreaching executive
  • Article 50 case confirmed majority vote in parliament necessary to unmake a treaty that originally required parliament's consent
  • 2019 prorogation case reaffirmed the sovereignty of parliament and protected its ability to hold the government to account
  • 2018 legal continuity scotland bill ruled control over legislation previously held by the eu that related to devolved matters should not be immediately granted to scotland