The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill: the criticisms mount. Michael Zander KC examines the scathing reports of two parliamentary committees
- The reports of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in February were both withering in their indictments of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.
The storm of fierce criticism aimed at the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill has been swelled by reports from two House of Lords Select Committees: the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee (25th Report) and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (28th Report) both published on 2 February.
Delegated Powers Committee
The government’s delegated powers memorandum said that the main purpose of the Bill was to remove the precedence given to EU law and to firmly re-establish Parliament as the principal source of law in the UK. The second purpose, the committee says, had not been achieved. ‘[T]he Bill gives Ministers extraordinary powers exercised by statutory instrument to dispose of, retain or rewrite retained EU law (REUL)—including
