Taking back control? Rule by law(s) and the executive in the post-Brexit world

Catherine Barnard

Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 2022, vol. 38, issue 1, 11-26

Abstract: This article argues that the current reassertion of parliamentary sovereignty is, in fact, the reassertion of the control of the executive (Whitehall), to the detriment of genuine control by parliament (Westminster). Parliament is being used to pass Acts of Parliament to take back control from the EU, but with remarkably little scrutiny. And, in that process, those Acts are being used to authorize the delegation of significant powers to the executive, largely through ‘Henry VIII’ powers. These powers enable ministers, by secondary legislation, to amend or repeal both primary and secondary legislation. Law is being used to take back control. However, the genuine democratic checks on that law are few. The result may be that taking back control from Brussels results in decisions being made by Whitehall, decisions disconnected from, in particular, the sentiments of the devolved administrations and the still large number of people who have never accepted Brexit.

Keywords: Brexit; parliament; control; secondary legislation; constitution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oxrep/grab039 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:oxford:v:38:y:2022:i:1:p:11-26.

Access Statistics for this article

Oxford Review of Economic Policy is currently edited by Christopher Adam

More articles in Oxford Review of Economic Policy from Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().