Dr. Kieran Laird
Kieran is an ex-academic with a particular interest in areas where law and politics intersect. He is a partner in Gowling WLG's Public Law & Regulation team and Head of Constitutional Affairs for the firm's Brexit Unit.
Kieran provides advice on the applicability of, and developments in, the statutory and regulatory frameworks governing a number of regulated sectors including energy, qualifications, transport, health, communications, and political lobbying. Kieran advises a range of clients including sector regulators, consumer councils, government departments, other public bodies, major corporates, and small and medium sized enterprises with regard to their respective regulated industries, equalities and human rights duties, EU law and other public law matters.
Practice Areas
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2009
Education
- LPC College of Law
- LLB, MA & PhD Queen's University Belfast
4 Contributions by Kieran Laird
PRACTICE NOTES
Post‑Brexit retained EU law and its transition to assimilated law: UK definitions, scope, interpretation, case law and reform (2021–onwards)
This Practice Note outlines retained EU law as it operated in 2021–23, setting out key definitions and concepts with pointers to the relevant provisions of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EU(W)A 2018). It further considers the overhaul of retained EU law and its re-labelling as assimilated law from 2024. Wider aspects of the EU(W)A 2018, together with the distinct arrangements and divergences for the UK’s devolved administrations, fall outside the scope of this Practice Note. Evaluation of particular instruments, provisions or rights, and whether they are retained, is likewise excluded.
what’s the difference?
Both “retained EU law” and “assimilated law” describe the residual body of domestic law that originally stemmed from the UK’s membership of the EU. The labels mark two phases in the domestic legal system’s adjustment to Brexit:
retained EU law was the former label for that body of law as it was preserved or converted into domestic law from IP completion day at the end of the Brexit “implementation period” at 11 pm on 31 December 2020, and as it applied until the end of 2023 (the 2021–23 period).
Broader EU(W)A 2018 provisions and devolved arrangements remain wholly expressly outside the scope of this Practice Note.
...
Public Law
PRACTICE NOTES
REUL(RR)A 2023: UK practitioners' guide to revocation, assimilated law, loss of EU supremacy, modification powers, UK courts, and impact on the Withdrawal Agreement and UK-EU TCA
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (REUL(RR)A 2023) received Royal Assent on 29 June 2023. Although less expansive than the initial proposal to disapply all retained EU law (REUL) by the end of 2023, it nonetheless delivers notable changes. This Practice Note outlines the impact of REUL(RR)A 2023, the reforms it introduces and the interpretation of assimilated law, the role of the courts, and how REUL(RR)A 2023 interfaces with the Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) with the EU...
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EU(W)A 2018)
To understand the operation of REUL(RR)A 2023, one must return to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EU(W)A 2018). For background on EU(W)A 2018, see Practice Note: Brexit—key legislation explained. After the Brexit implementation period concluded on 31 December 2020, EU(W)A 2018 established a fresh category of domestic law—REUL. REUL consisted of several distinct ‘baskets’ of law:
EU-derived domestic legislation, encompassing both primary Acts and secondary instruments enacted to meet the UK’s EU obligations (EU(W)A 2018, s 2)
retained direct EU legislation—principally directly effective EU regulations and decisions...
Public Law
PRACTICE NOTES
UK Brexit legal framework: EU (Withdrawal) Acts 2018/2020, REUL(RR)A 2023, EU(FR)A 2020, retained/assimilated EU law, Windsor Framework and TCA implementation
Background—EU law in the UK Pre-exit day
The European Communities Act 1972 (ECA 1972) was enacted to implement the United Kingdom’s obligations, as a Member State, under the relevant EU treaties and to ensure adherence to EU law. Under ECA 1972, s 2(1), certain EU rights and obligations intended to have direct effect applied in the UK without the need for additional domestic legislation. This encompassed rights under the EU Treaties and EU regulations setting out detailed legal rules. Other forms of EU law took effect via UK regulations made under ECA 1972, s 2(2), or, in some circumstances, through separate Acts of Parliament. This pathway covered EU directives, which stipulate overarching aims or frameworks while leaving each Member State to make its own provision to secure the required legal outcome. In its operation within Member States, EU law is ‘supreme’. Consequently, where EU law conflicted with a Member State’s domestic legislation, the latter had to be disapplied—a principle that constituted the only circumstance in which a UK court could disapply an Act of Parliament...
Public Law
PRACTICE NOTES
UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement: background, structure, legal status, transition, governance, dispute resolution, CJEU role, Windsor Framework, implementation and public law implications
The UK’s formal withdrawal from the EU took effect at 11 pm on 31 January 2020 (exit day).
At that point, the withdrawal period under Article 50 TEU concluded, and the ratified Withdrawal Agreement, which set the legal terms of the UK’s departure, entered into force. On exit day, the ratified Withdrawal Agreement was released in the Official Journal of the European Union, together with the Political Declaration outlining the framework for the future relationship between the UK and the EU:
Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, OJ L 29 31.01.20, p 7-187
Political declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom, OJ C 34 31.01.20, p 1-16
Exit day stood as a significant milestone, being the date on which the UK ceased to be an EU Member State...
Public Law
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