'Essential' to take account of devolved administrations as repeal bill advances

It is essential'' that the UK Government takes account of the devolved administrations and external organisations as the Brexit Repeal Bill progresses, the Law Society of Scotland has said.

The organisation said that a whole of governance'' approach is needed to ensure that the Bill works effectively.

The Bill is designed to transpose EU law into British law so the same rules apply on the day of Brexit as the day before, while giving parliaments and assemblies in Westminster, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff the power to drop or change them in the future.

But it has faced an immediate backlash from opposition parties and devolved governments, with the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales, Nicola Sturgeon and Carwyn Jones, saying they would not grant the required legislative consent to the Bill as it stands.

Graham Matthews, Law Society of Scotland president, said: The introduction of the Bill represents a significant milestone in the route to exiting the European Union.

The Bill raises important constitutional issues so, as it goes through parliament and the UK Government moves forward in its negotiations on how we leave the EU, it will be essential for the Government to take a whole of governance approach, taking account of the devolved administrations and external organisations, including the professions, civic society and other representative groups to ensure that this important and complex Bill works effectively on Royal Assent.''

The Law Society of Scotland has also raised concerns about the potential use of Henry VIII powers - which allow the Government to make changes to existing legislation without the usual level of parliamentary scrutiny - in relation to the UK's devolved administrations.

Mr Matthews said: We have raised specific concerns about the role of the Sewel Convention, which does not allow the UK Parliament to legislate for devolved matters without the consent of the devolved administration affected, but it does not apply to the exercise of secondary legislative powers.

It's our view that each piece of secondary legislation should be consulted upon and, given the compressed timescales, this should start as soon as possible rather than waiting until next spring when the Bill will have gone through the parliamentary processes at Westminster.

We also think that once the process of identifying EU-derived UK law is complete, this body of law should be collated to form an easily identifiable and accessible collection. It would also be useful to have a definition of 'domestic' law given that we have three devolved administrations in addition to the UK Parliament.

We're pleased to see that the UK Government has taken on board our comment regarding clarity on the post-Brexit court structure, particularly regarding the role of the High Court of Justiciary which would become the final court of appeal for criminal matters in Scotland, rather that the European Court of Justice.''

He said that the Law Society of Scotland will continue to scrutinise the Bill and engage constructively as it progresses through the parliamentary stages.

The Bill was given its first reading in the Commons on Thursday, which means its title was read out followed by an order for the Bill to be published.

It will not be formally debated until autumn