Law Society and Bar Council to answer Lords EU Committee questions on impact of Brexit on civil justice cooperation
Next week the House of Lords EU Justice Sub-Committee will hear evidence from the Law Society and the Bar Council.
This evidence session is part of the Committee's short inquiry into the consequences for civil justice cooperation of the loss, post-Brexit, of the Court of Justice of the EU's jurisdiction.
At 10.45am on Tuesday 10 January 2017 the Committee will hear from:
- Hugh Mercer QC, Essex Court Chambers (representing the Bar Council)
- Timothy Scott QC, 29 Bedford Row Chambers (representing the Bar Council)
- David Greene, Head of Group Action Litigation, Edwin Coe LLP (representing the Law Society)
- Helena Raulus, Law Society.
Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:
- What aspects of the Brussels I recast Regulation, Brussels IIA Regulation, and the Maintenance Regulation would you be concerned to lose when we leave the EU?
- We've heard that as an alternative to the Brussels regime common law rules would “simply occupy the space vacated by the EU regime [and] there would be no loss of performance post-Brexit”. Practitioners disagreed; what is your view?
- The uncertainty over which rules will govern the legal regulation of cross-border disputes risks those who currently use London's courts taking their business elsewhere. Which jurisdiction will be the chief beneficiary?
- What are the alternatives for post-Brexit UK cooperation in these fields with other EU Member States?
- The Government appears to reject any post-Brexit role for the Court of Justice of the EU. What are the implications of its stance for civil justice cooperation by the UK with the remaining EU Member States post-Brexit?
- Could civil justice cooperation of the kind governed by these Regulations be maintained via the UK-EU withdrawal treaty once the UK leaves the EU?
- If this legislation was maintained post-Brexit, given that the Regulations derive from EU legislation and are interpreted by the Court of Justice, how should UK courts interpret them?
The evidence session will take place at 10.45am on Tuesday 10 January in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords.
