As discussed in our recent GT Alert, “Brexit: 100 Day Update“, the UK Prime Minister Theresa May recently announced plans for a “Great Repeal Bill” for the repeal of the 1972 European Communities Act (ECA). Under the ECA, European Union (EU) law was established as part of the UK’s legal order and was given supremacy over the UK’s domestic laws.
It is intended that the Great Repeal Bill will enter into force on the date of Brexit (which appears to be March/April 2019 at the earliest). It is expected that the Great Repeal Bill will preserve the majority of existing EU law in domestic UK legislation until the UK Government has had an opportunity to assess individual EU-derived domestic laws and decide whether to retain, amend, or remove them. This process is likely to take many years, depending on the resources devoted to it. New, post-Brexit EU law, including the decisions of the European Court of Justice, will not form part of UK domestic law.