NEWS

Rose Slowe * was interviewed on LBC Radio by Maajid Naawaz about wherther a no-deal Brexit is lawful without a further Act of Parliament authorising it
Rose Slowe was interviewed again live on LBC Radio by Maajid Nawaz, on Sunday 14 July, about whether a no-deal Brexit was lawful without a further Act of Parliament authorising it.
She was asked to explain the UK constitutional requirements which would have to be met for Brexit to take legal effect, and the interplay of these requirements with the EU Treaties.
Rose explained that Article 50(1) of the Treaty on European Union provides that a Member State may decide to withdraw from the EU in accordance with ‘its own constitutional requirements’. The Supreme Court, the highest judicial authority responsible for interpreting the UK’s unwritten constitution, confirmed in R (on the application of Miller and another) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2017] UKSC 5, that, as a matter of UK constitutional law, only an Act of Parliament can authorise, and give effect to, changes in domestic law and existing legal rights. To date, no Act of Parliament passed has met this constitutional requirement of express authorisation of Brexit, in one form or another, and as such the fundamental constitutional requirement has yet to be met. If it continues to go unmet, the EU Treaties will not cease to apply under Article 50(3) as no Member State can be forced out of the Union otherwise than pursuant to a voluntary decision taken in accordance with its domestic constitution.
Rose was further asked to comment on how her thesis could be litigated before the UK Courts.
* Prior to joining the Bar, Rose Slowe LLM was an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Bristol Law School. She co-authored a leading book on the European Union and the Council of Europe, published by Cambridge University Press. Rose has also published widely and debated in Parliament on matters pertaining to the interplay between the domestic UK and European legal orders.