Legal experts to give evidence to Lords Sub-Committee on Article 16 and operation of the Protocol
Tuesday 30 november 2021
On Wednesday 1 December 2021 the House of Lords Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland Sub-Committee will hear evidence on the legal implications of any invocation of Article 16, and of the current operation of the Protocol.
At 3.45pm the committee will hear from:
- Dr Sylvia de Mars, Senior Lecturer in Law, Newcastle Law School, Newcastle University
- George Peretz QC. Monckton Chambers
- James Webber, Shearman and Sterling LLP
This evidence session will be held virtually at 3.45pm on Wednesday 1 December and will be streamed live and available on demand on Parliamentlive.TV.
The questions the committee is likely to ask include:
- What would you identify as the principal legal issues arising in relation to the operation of the Protocol since it came into force?
- What is your assessments of the arguments set out in the Government’s July Command Paper that “the circumstances exist to justify using Article 16”?
- What would happen in the short and longer-term in the event that Article 16 were invoked?
- Aside from Article 16, what other legal paths are open to the UK and the EU to address the problems that the Protocol has given rise to? How likely are they to lead to a successful resolution of current tensions?
- How significant a risk do the trading arrangements in respect of Northern Ireland present to the integrity of the EU Single Market?
