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16 September 2020 / Khawar Qureshi KC
Issue: 7902 / Categories: Opinion , Brexit , Constitutional law
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An overarching duty to comply with the law?

27505
The UK Internal Market Bill: ‘Minor clarifications’ and the Rule of Law. Khawar Qureshi QC tracks events in Parliament so far this month

The astonishing admission on 8 September 2020 by the Conservative Government through the Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, that it was seeking to adopt legislation which would (if enacted) violate International Law, albeit engaging in the now (sadly) characteristic sophistry by adding ‘only in a specific and limited way’ to effect ‘minor clarifications", should be seen for what it is - continuation of the destructive trend towards unilateralism and erosion of trust in the rules based system.

On 19 October 2019, Boris Johnson described the Withdrawal Agreement (the Treaty) which he signed on behalf of the UK as ‘an excellent deal’ which would ‘take this country and the whole of Europe forward’.

On 23 January 2020 the EU Withdrawal Act (the Act), Section 7A thereof sought to give domestic effect to the Treaty, specifically by the means set out in Article 4 of

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

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Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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