The UK Regulatory Framework Post-Brexit: 'Law Unbound'

The UK Regulatory Framework Post-Brexit provides a comprehensive analysis of the UK's post-Brexit regulatory framework and does so against the conceptual frame of the 'Law Unbound,' thereby reflecting an animating impulse of the Brexit campaign: to take back sovereign control over the regulatory domain. The contributors consider to what extent regulatory constraints still exist (de jure and/or de facto) and how far regulatory freedom has been exercised. They also make a qualitative assessment of the new status quo, insofar as there have been changes. The book is divided into three parts. The first part considers the institutional dimension of Brexit, with chapters on the constitution, Parliament, government, courts, devolved governments, and Northern Ireland. The second and third parts deal with the legal impact of Brexit in important areas of economic and social policy affected by withdrawal from the EU. The second part contains chapters dealing with goods, services, financial services, competition, subsidies, procurement, digital and data regulation, and intellectual property. The chapters in part three cover citizens' rights, immigration, asylum and refugee law, equality, employment, healthcare, consumer law, environment, food law, and criminal law.

The introduction draws together and highlights themes that emerge from the individual chapters. It begins with analysis of the institutional dimension, with discussion of the pre-Brexit position, followed by constitutional, legal, and political change post-Brexit, including the territorial dimension concerning Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It next examines the economic and social dimensions of Brexit, including the pre-Brexit position; post-Brexit legality, which captures the extent to which the Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement impose constraints; and the reality of post-Brexit regulation. The introduction provides analytical tools to help navigate the terrain, distinguishing between active divergence, passive divergence, inactive divergence, and continued convergence. This is complemented by consideration of the institutional and territorial aspects of post-Brexit regulation.