Lady Hale has called for clarity on the operation of CJEU jurisprudence in the wake of Brexit.

In a lecture to Canadian and British lawyers at the University of Cambridge last week, the Deputy President of the Supreme Court said: “We in the courts want the clearest possible guidance from Parliament as to how we should treat EU law after Brexit, but the issues raised are many and complicated.”

She noted that the government’s intention not to preserve the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union could become an issue because while it only applies in the implementation of EU law “there are occasions when the Charter does inform the content of EU law rights”, for example in the ‘Zambrano carers’ case.

The judge also noted that there will be various other technical changes that need to be made “to existing legislation so as to make sense – eg when we are no longer parties to an institution to which it refers.”

“This will all have to be done in a hurry before Brexit, so the plan is to have order-making powers, which will include a ‘Henry VIII’ clause permitting amendment of primary legislation by order-in-council,” she said.

There is concern, however, that this could “provoke a flurry of judicial review applications”, which Lady Hale, noted, may necessitate “special powers” to ensure cases can go up to the Supreme Court as quickly as possible.