Following the UK’s formal departure from the bloc on 31 January 2020, we are now in a period of transition, the terms of which are defined in the Withdrawal Agreement agreed between the UK Government and the EU in October 2019. Assuming extenuating circumstances do not compel the parties to agree an extension (of up to two years), the transition period will end on 31 December 2020. During transition, EU law continues to apply to the UK, with almost all of the rights and obligations that follow. This is important not merely because of the continuing application of EU law as it stood at midnight (CET) on 31 January. It also means that new EU legislation, be it directly applicable or to be implemented into national law before the end of this year, also binds the UK.
Negotiations on the future relationship started in earnest in early March 2020, based on the respective mandates on the EU side and the UK side.
Since then, the EU has gone one step further, producing a Draft text of the Agreement on the New Partnership between the European Union and the United Kingdom in mid-March.
The FRG is exploring all possible avenues to secure the Bar’s longstanding Brexit priorities: preserving access to justice through future judicial cooperation and continuing mutual market access for legal services in support of same. Please refer to the documents linked below for further insight into these activities.
Bar Council Brexit resources
The Bar's Brexit Papers offer Government, parliamentarians, the media and the public a concise and informative evaluation, in an accessible format, of the legal challenges posed by leaving the EU, their practical implications for the economy and society, and recommendations to Government.
- Brexit Legal services
- International Arbitration
- Financial Services Brexit Paper
- Civil Jurisdiction and judgements
- Criminal Justice
- Family Law
- Immigration
- Insolvency and Restructuring
- CJEU Jurisprudence
- Dispute Resolution
- Employment Law Brexit paper
- Consumer Law
- Road Traffic Accident Victims
- Acquired Rights
- Intellectual Property
- Competition Law
- Tax Law
- Public Procurement
- Impact of No Deal
- WTO
- Environmental Law Brexit paper
- Fisheries
- Agriculture
- Internal Market and Customs Union
- Human Rights
- Environmental Regulation
- Mutual Recognition Brexit paper
- August 2019 - UK lawyers practising in the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein in a no-deal Brexit
- December 2018 - Bar Council Brexit debates briefing
- November 2018 - Preparing for a 'no deal' Brexit: Substantive advice to practitioners
- October 2018 - UK CCBE Delegation paper: UK lawyers in the EU - Practice rights in the context of Brexit Q&A
- July 2018 - Proposal for an Agreement between the EU and the UK on Future Judicial Cooperation
- May 2018 - UK CCBE Delegation paper: EU lawyers in the UK - Practice rights under the Draft Withdrawal Agreement and Q&A
- March 2018 - Bar Council briefing for Westminster Hall debate: Implications of Brexit for the justice system
- March 2018 - Bar Council briefing for Westminster Hall debate: Promotion of legal services post-Brexit
- February 2018 - Bar Council and Law Society joint Clause 6 amendment: treatment of post-exit judgments of the European Court
- February 2018 - Bar Council briefing on EU (Withdrawal) Bill for House of Lords Committee of the Whole House
- December 2017 - Response by the UK CCBE Delegation to the position paper by the EU27 Members of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), 'Issues for lawyers and legal services in the EU'
- September 2017 - Bar Council briefing on EU (Withdrawal) Bill for House of Commons Second Reading
- June 2016 - EU Referendum: Position of the Bar
- 6 February 2018 - Chair of the Bar Council Brexit Working Group Hugh Mercer QC gives evidence to the House of Lords EU Justice Sub-Committee on Brexit: enforcement and dispute resolution
- 7 February 2017 - Professor Derrick Wyatt QC and Hugo Leith give evidence to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee on the implications of leaving the EU for the UK's role in the world
- 1 February 2017 - Chair of the Bar Andrew Langdon QC gives evidence to the House of Lords EU Justice Sub-Committee on implications of Brexit for the justice system
- 10 January 2017 - Chair of the Brexit Working Group Hugh Mercer QC gives evidence to the House of Lords EU Justice Sub-Committee on Brexit: civil justice cooperation
- 19 January 2018 - Written evidence to the House of Lords EU Justice Sub-Committee inquiry: Brexit: Enforcement and dispute resolution
- 7 March 2017 - Supplementary written evidence to the House of Lords EU Justice Sub-Committee inquiry: Future trade between the UK and EU in services
- 10 March 2017 - Written evidence to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee on the implications of 'no deal' - Professor Derrick Wyatt QC and Hugo Leith
- 19 January 2017 - Written evidence to the House of Lords EU Justice Sub-Committee inquiry: Future trade between the UK and EU in services
- 11 November 2016 - Written evidence to the Justice Select Committee inquiry: Implications of Brexit for the justice system
The Bar Council's YouTube channel hosts the 'Bitesize Brexit' playlist, a series of short clips featuring members of the Brexit Working Group and EU Law Committee breaking down the complex law and politics of Brexit into bitesized pieces.