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Lords EU exit regulations: 12 March

11 March 2019

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On Tuesday 12 March, the House of Lords will examine six statutory instruments preparing for Brexit.

A statutory instrument (SI), a type of secondary legislation, is a law created under powers given by an Act of Parliament. It is used to fill in the details of Acts (primary legislation).

The proposed SIs make changes to laws on:

  1. Aviation safety, noise and statistics
  2. Law enforcement and security
  3. Local government structure and boundary changes
  4. International accounting standards
  5. European public limited liability companies

These SIs will be considered in Grand Committee, a room outside the Lords chamber. In Grand Committee, any member can take part but no votes can take place.

The Brexit SIs under examination on Tuesday 12 March are all made under the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018, and are changes to the law to be made in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

All these SIs are made under the draft affirmative procedure, meaning they need to be approved by Parliament before they could be made (signed into law) and brought into effect as law. Draft affirmative SIs can be stopped if either House votes against the government's motion calling for the SI to be approved.

Lords scrutiny

The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) examines every SI, including all EU Exit SIs. It publishes reports drawing members' attention to SIs.

SLSC (Sub-Committee B) reported on SIs making changes to laws on aviation statistics, international accounting standards and European public limited liability companies

Further information

Image: iStockphoto

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