I thank all Peers who have contributed to the debate. I was getting a bit concerned about the subject of my famous correspondence with the House, but I took on board the observations of the noble Baroness, Lady Chapman, at the end of the last day in Committee, about wanting to see the letter in advance. I am pleased that the noble Lord, Lord Collins, got his on Friday afternoon; I approved it in draft on Friday afternoon. I am sorry that the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, did not get his until noon today. I received it on my parliamentary email at 10 am, so perhaps his email is a bit slow. I did attempt to get it out as early as possible because I suspected that it might come up and I knew that noble Lords would want to read it before the debate. I am sorry that the noble Lord thinks that it is gobbledegook, but that is lawyers for you.
The amendments in this group are Amendment 68 tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, and the noble Lord, Lord Fox, Amendment 69 tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Chapman, and Amendment 69A tabled by all three noble Lords. These would set unnecessary conditions on the commencement of
Clauses 3, 4 and 5. Let me start by drawing noble Lords’ attention to why we are making the changes in these clauses. Each of the clauses is vital to the Government’s programme of reforming retained EU law.
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The approach taken in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018—noble Lords will recall that we debated this extensively at the time—was to retain these principles, rights and obligations to ensure legal continuity at the end of the transition period, but it is constitutionally novel and inappropriate to leave them on the statute book indefinitely. That there are still circumstances where retained EU law takes precedence over UK law is not consistent with our status as an independent nation now. The principle of EU supremacy must be ended as soon as it can be.
Amendments 68 and 69 are very similar and require a Minister of the Crown to consult with relevant persons or organisations before laying a report before both Houses of Parliament setting out the specific effects of bringing Clauses 3, 4 and 5 into force. Amendment 68 would require Parliament to approve a resolution to bring those clauses into force. Requiring Ministers to write a report on matters to which the Government had already committed would, in our view, add unnecessary complexity and delay to these reforms. The proposal in Amendment 69A, which is supported by my noble friend Lord Kirkhope, for the Law Commission to produce such a report would inappropriately involve that organisation in the implementation of key government policy.
I say to my noble friend Lord Kirkhope and to the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, that, as my noble friend observed, I know the procedures of the European Parliament very well, but the debates last week were about the extent of this Parliament’s involvement in the law that became retained EU law. My point in those extensive debates was that this Parliament had no say in those rules when they came into law, by the various means that they did. I was not decrying the EU’s democratic procedures. We all have some criticisms of them but, of course, elected MEPs are involved, to a certain extent, in most of those procedures. With respect, I do not agree with my noble friend on this occasion.
The Bill will also not lead to legal uncertainty, as suggested by these amendments. Our approach will improve accessibility and legal clarity by, where necessary, codifying rights and principles expressly in domestic statute. In my view, it is an important constitutional objective that citizens be able to rely on what they read in domestic statute without having to check obscure cross-references in general retained EU rights.
In response to the specific question from the noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, Clause 22(6) simply means that Clauses 3 to 5 do not have effect before the end of 2023. As such, Section 4 of the 2018 Act, the principle of supremacy and general principles of EU law will continue to apply so far as they relate to anything that takes place before the end of 2023, even if litigated after 2023.
The Government are committed to ensuring robust scrutiny of secondary legislation made under the delegated powers in the Bill, while at the same time ensuring the
best and most effective use of parliamentary time. This means that legislation made using the delegated powers in the Bill will be subject to either the negative or draft affirmative procedure, depending on the legislation that is being amended and the power used. We are going to debate this later, but a sifting procedure will also apply to regulations proposed to be made under the powers to restate and to revoke or replace, which again will afford additional scrutiny to Parliament on the use of these powers.
As already set out, the Government have committed to ensuring that the necessary legislation is in place to uphold the UK’s international obligations. This includes maintaining the UK’s obligations under the trade and co-operation agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol. I hope that reassures the noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, who raised the question of our international obligations.
In conclusion, this new clause would add unnecessary complexity to the important steps that the Bill is taking to ensure that the UK’s statute book meets the needs of the British people. I therefore hope that the noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, withdraws her amendment.