United Kingdom Internal Market Bill, House of Lords 2nd Reading: A Rule of Law Analysis of Clauses 44-47

Executive Summary

This Report sets out in brief the Bingham Centre's Rule of Law analysis of clauses 44 to 47 of the UK Internal Market Bill, to inform the consideration of those clauses by the House of Lords at the Bill's Second Reading on Monday 19th October.

The Report concludes that the implications of these clauses for the Rule of Law, and for the UK's international reputation as a Rule of Law regarding nation, are so serious that it recommends that members should support the regret motion tabled by former Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, "that this House regrets that Part 5 of the bill contains provisions which, if enacted, would undermine the rule of law and damage the reputation of the United Kingdom."

In clauses 44 to 47 of the Bill, the Government is asking Parliament to legislate incompatibly with the Rule of Law in two respects.

First, the clauses involve a deliberate breach of the UK's international obligations. It does not merely provide for future breaches of international law by ministerial regulations. By removing the entrenched legal protection that the UK promised to provide for certain rights in the Withdrawal Agreement, and adopting measures which could jeopardise the achievement of the objectives of that Agreement, the Bill is also itself in immediate breach of clear obligations which the UK voluntarily and very recently assumed in Articles 4 and 5 of the Withdrawal Agreement. The "parliamentary lock" therefore does not fix the Bill's Rule of Law problem, as the introduction and enactment of the Bill are in breach of the UK's international obligations even before these clauses are brought into force or used to make regulations. As Lord Tom Bingham made clear in his well known exposition of the concept, the Rule of Law requires compliance by the State with its obligations in international law as in national law. A breach of the rule of international law is still a breach of the Rule of Law.

Second, the clauses seek to immunise those ministerial regulations from any meaningful legal challenge, placing them beyond effective review by the independent courts. While the Government asserts that the Bill preserves access to judicial review, the practical effect of the provisions in the Bill is to create a monumental ouster clause of unprecedented scope. Preventing access to courts to challenge the legality of ministerial actions is also a fundamental departure from the Rule of Law.

The consequences of such a deliberate repudiation of clear international law obligations, and of such a sweeping exclusion of access to effective legal remedies, are very serious, including for the UK's reputation as a global leader on the Rule of Law and as an advocate for a rules-based international order. The context of negotiations of a new relationship with the EU does not justify such a serious departure from fundamental constitutional norms to which the UK has long adhered. The Rule of Law is not negotiable. 

Lords members must ask themselves if their conscience allows them to support such an unprecedented request to approve in principle a Bill containing provisions which depart so significantly from the requirements of the Rule of Law. Supporting Lord Judge's regret motion will indicate clearly to the Government that it urgently needs to reconsider its inclusion of these clauses in the Bill.

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