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02 April 2020 / Amanda Robinson , David Wolchover
Issue: 7881 / Categories: Features , Brexit , Constitutional law
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Brexit: the beginning of the end?

COVID-19 demands a longer transition & a clean EU referendum, say Amanda Robinson & David Wolchover
  • The threat to the economy and the impact on the welfare of the public are sufficient reasons to apply to rejoin the EU, regardless of what happened between 2016 to date, prior to COVID-19.

The thrust of our recent articles in this journal and on NLJ online has been to challenge the legitimacy of the 2016 European Union referendum and the government’s withdrawal decision, invoking the proven instances of electoral malfeasance over the referendum and the government’s wholesale failure to take account of the socio-economic consequences of leaving the EU for the UK. Now, however, the domination of politics by Brexit over the past four years has rapidly given way to the overwhelming impact of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) on almost every facet of the lives of the world’s population.

The time has therefore come to put aside our frustrations with the revelations of electoral fraud and suspected interference in the referendum

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Freeths—Rachel Crosier

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Projects and rail practices strengthened by director hire in London

DWF—Stephen Hickling

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NEWS
Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
Employment law is shifting at the margins. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ this week, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School examines a Court of Appeal ruling confirming that volunteers are not a special legal species and may qualify as ‘workers’
Refusing ADR is risky—but not always fatal. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed and Sanjay Dave Singh of the University of Leicester analyse Assensus Ltd v Wirsol Energy Ltd: despite repeated invitations to mediate, the defendant stood firm, made a £100,000 Part 36 offer and was ultimately ‘wholly vindicated’ at trial
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