THE Law Society of Scotland has warned that the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill being debated in the Commons today “would remove the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament”.
In a stark and unusually brutal warning from the professional body, they describe the Bill as “complex, difficult to interpret and lacking in clarity”.
Graham Matthews, president of the society, expressed doubts that MPs would have either enough time or understanding to do their jobs effectively.
“Given the tight timescales involved, we think that MPs will have a difficult task in examining the bill and therefore the UK Government should be generous and permissive with suggestions to clarify or make improvements as the bill progresses,” he said.
The Law Society said they have concerns the legislation could lead to the “erosion” of human rights.
Matthews said: “We have particular concerns around plans to exclude the Charter of Fundamental Rights from domestic law. We believe the UK Government should reconsider this because of the possible erosion of human rights if it is removed.”
On devolution, Matthews joined calls from the first ministers of Scotland and Wales, warning of a Whitehall power grab.
“We believe there needs to be a whole of governance approach to the UK withdrawal from the EU, which takes into account the devolved administrations and other key organisations and representative groups to ensure this complex Bill works properly,” he said.
“The effect of the Bill would be to remove the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament in relation to any matter in retained EU law.
“This would be the case even if it related to areas of law not reserved to the UK under the Scotland Act, such as agriculture or fisheries.”
Though debate on the Bill starts today, the first votes are expected on Monday.
Writing for a newspaper, Dominic Grieve, the former Tory Attorney General, expressed fears about the powers the Bill will give ministers, saying it would enable the Government to “carry out Brexit in breach of our constitutional principles, in a manner that no sovereign parliament should allow”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here