UK may have to obey EU's court rulings until 2027 - EIGHT YEARS after Brexit
THE UK could be forced to live under the European Court of Justice (ECJ) rule until 2027 – despite leaving the EU in 2019, according to reports.
The ECJ, the EU’s highest court, currently rules over Britain while we are still a part of the Brussels bloc, but Theresa May has promised to disentangle the UK as part of her Brexit “red lines”.
This week the Government will publish how Britain will consider ECJ rulings after Brexit, and while all rulings are expected to be respected until the point of Brexit in 2019, how Britain will handle EU law in the two or three year transition period remains to be seen.
One source told the Telegraph: “This will be for the negotiation in terms of the structure of the interim deal.”
The fact some cases can take five years to resolve could mean British courts may have to bow down to ECJ rulings if the transition period continues onto March 2022.
International disputes could be settled by a group of purpose-picked judges from the Supreme Court, if the Government’s paper recommendation is accepted by the EU.
On these cases, a neutral judge will sit on a panel to rule on the case, according to reports.
Other papers on how Britain will co-operate on data sharing and civil judiciaries will also be published this week.
It comes after Britain’s most senior judge told the Government to provide as much clarity as possible about how UK law will be formulated post-Brexit.
Lord Neuberger urged the House of Commons to be “very clear” so that judges cannot be blamed for any misinterpretations.
He told the BBC: “If [the Government] doesn’t express clearly what the judges should do about decisions of the ECJ after Brexit, or indeed any other topic after Brexit, then the judges will simply have to do their best.
“But to blame the judges for making the law when Parliament has failed to do so would be unfair.
“If the UK Parliament says we should take into account decisions of the ECJ then we will do so. If it says we shouldn’t then we won’t. Basically we will do what the statute says.”
A former Government official also claimed Britain would remain in the EU “in all but name” if it continued to remain in the single market and customs union.
Sir Paul Jenkins, the Government’s most senior legal official from 2006 to 2014, said: “If the UK is to be part of something close enough to a customs union or the single market to remove the need for hard borders, it will only work if the rules are identical to the EU’s own internal rules.
“Not only must they be the same but there must be consistent policing of those rules. If Theresa May’s red line means we cannot be tied to the ECJ, the Brexit treaty will need to provide a parallel policing system.
“That may be a new court but, in reality, any new court will have to follow what the ECJ says about the EU’s own rules, otherwise the new system won’t work. So, never mind Theresa May’s foolish red line; we will have the ECJ in all but name.”