How will the government change ‘exit day’ in UK law to match the new Brexit date? What is the EU ‘exit day’ Statutory Instrument and what are SIs more broadly? How do both Houses of Parliament scrutinise SIs? And what is the ‘affirmative’ procedure?
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Parliament and Brexit in Autumn 2019: a constitutional and procedural guide
Stay on top of the key Brexit developments in Parliament this autumn in our regularly updated procedural and constitutional guide.
"… as if the Commissioners had walked into Parliament with a blank sheet of paper": Parliament’s procedural handling of the Supreme Court’s nullification of prorogation
The Supreme Court’s 24 September nullification of the prorogation that had at that point been underway presented Parliament with a procedural and record-keeping problem. Here, the Clerks of the Journals in the two Houses explain how it was resolved.
Scrutiny of Statutory Instruments in the spotlight following Supreme Court judgement
The Supreme Court’s judgement that the government’s prorogation of Parliament was unlawful was due in part to concern that the legislature’s ability to scrutinise Statutory Instruments would be compromised. But as ‘exit day’ nears, and with a new, shorter prorogation planned, the inadequacies of the parliamentary scrutiny process for SIs become ever starker.
The 2019 Liaison Committee report on the Commons select committee system: broadening the church, integrating with the Chamber
In its recent landmark report, the House of Commons Liaison Committee recommended a widening of the circle of those that select committees should hold to account, and a turn towards the public in all committee activity, but also tighter links between select committees and the House of Commons Chamber.
The Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019: What next?
The House of Commons’ last business before it was controversially prorogued on 9 September was the announcement of Royal Assent to the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019. Just as the UK’s parliamentary democracy was being questioned, a significant step forward was taken to safeguard the building that both houses and symbolises it.