Retained EU Law Bill Advances to House of Lords
On 18 January 2023, the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill passed its third reading following a parliamentary debate. The Bill will now progress to the House of Lords.
The highly controversial draft legislation has the power to remove around 4,000 laws, unless the Government takes positive action to preserve specific laws before the 'sunsetting' date of 31 December 2023. The Bill has been widely criticised both across the political spectrum and beyond, with the Law Society anticipating it would, if passed, have a 'devastating impact' on legal certainty.
Many current employment rights, including holiday rights, the 48-hour working week, part-time worker protections, and TUPE rights, derive from EU law. The Bill's potential impact on domestic employment rights remains unclear. This is because the Government is yet to confirm which law it will preserve, or otherwise what new law would be introduced to replace any EU law is removed.
However, MPs this week voted against a proposed amendment to the Bill which would have forced ministers to provide a list of all the laws they plan to scrap under the Bill. This means the Bill will now proceed to the House of Lords. If both the House of Lords and the House of Commons agree the text, the Bill will then be approved by the King and become law.
