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16 December 2022 / Michael Zander KC
Issue: 8007 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , EU , Brexit
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Taking back control over retained EU law (Pt 2)

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A seriously alarming piece of legislation? Michael Zander KC continues his report on the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill
  • Under the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, all remaining EU secondary legislation will be revoked on 31 December 2023.
  • With thousands of retained EU law statutory instruments still on the books, reviewing and coming to a decision on all of them within such a short timeframe is an impossible task.
  • The Public Bill Committee has received almost 100 pieces of written evidence on the Bill—these are predominantly critical, with the sunset provision frequently flagged as the biggest cause for alarm.

In terms of the damage it could cause, the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill is one of the worst pieces of legislation I can remember in some 60 years of following the law-making process.

An impossible task?

The Bill provides for the cliff-edge sunsetting on 31 December 2023 of all then remaining retained EU law (REUL).

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Workplace law firm expands commercial disputes team with senior consultant hire

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NLJ this week: Old rules, fresh warnings in employment law
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
NLJ this week: The rise of the ‘ChatGPT client’ rattles the profession
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
NLJ this week: Surrogacy children caught in succession gap
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
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Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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