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14 January 2021 / Simon Parsons
Issue: 7916 / Categories: Features , Brexit , Constitutional law
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The rule of law—in transition?

35715
Simon Parsons reflects on the UK Internal Market Bill & attempts to exclude judicial review for errors of law
  • The UK Internal Market Bill.
  • Ouster clause: attempts to exclude judicial review for errors of law.
  • Errors of law: the courts have been willing to review errors of law but are only able to review errors of fact in limited circumstances.

The UK Internal Market Bill, Pt 5, if it had become law would have broken international law by giving ministers powers to make regulations in respect of Northern Ireland customs and state aid which would have been inconsistent with the UK’s commitments under Art 4 of the Withdrawal Agreement which states that the UK must, via primary legislation, fully implement that agreement in domestic law. In particular the regulations would have disapplied (in respect of the Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol) s 7A of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (inserted by legislation in 2020) which is the conduit by which the Withdrawal Agreement flows into domestic law. The fact

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Sidley—James Inness

Sidley—James Inness

Partner joins capital markets team in London office

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

Firm announces appointment of partner as UK general counsel

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Firm appoints first chief marketing officer to drive growth strategy

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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