Legal doubts about Brexit date change

LEGAL experts have warned that the manner in which the Government changed the Brexit date could be open to legal challenge.

On Wednesday evening the House of Commons voted, despite a significant rebellion by Conservative MPS, to approve a statutory instrument (SI) amending the date of the UK’S exit from the EU in domestic law.

It followed the extension to the Article 50 process granted by Brussels at the Prime Minister’s request.

During a debate in the House of Lords on Tuesday, Lord Pannick, a QC and crossbench peer, raised the issue, warning: “A number of lawyers have expressed concern about the legality of this statutory instrument and the concern is that the statutory instrument sets out two alternative exit days – either April 12 or May 22.”

The fear is that the two dates could create confusion within the law and render it invalid. Legal experts consulted by The Daily Telegraph suggested it was not incorrect to be concerned by the matter.

Brexiteers in the Commons who opposed the extension have also argued that the approval of the statutory instrument had to have taken place before Theresa May sought it from the EU.

There was also disquiet in both chambers that, owing to time constraints, the Government bypassed the normal process for the scrutiny of statutory instruments and did not send it to the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (JCSI), a legislative watchdog.