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10 March 2023 / Michael Zander KC
Issue: 8016 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , EU , Brexit
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Taking back control over retained EU law (Pt 3)

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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

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NEWS
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
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