Legal Issues

Economic Sanctions: No End to War in Ukraine

24 February 2023 Erika Szyszczak is a Fellow of the UK Trade Policy Observatory and Professor Emerita of Law at the University of Sussex. 24 February 2022: a date that shook the world as Russian aggression in Ukraine escalated. The fragility of a strategic democratic state was challenged, alongside exposing the vulnerability of interdependent global supply chains. Thus, it was not surprising that the early response to Russian aggression was in the form of economic sanctions led by the US, the UK and the EU. [1] […]

By Nick Phipps|2023-02-24T12:30:11+00:0024 February 2023|Uncategorised|1 Comment

Enhancement and Enforcement of International Trade Rules: The EU Leads the Way

18 February 2021 Erika Szyszczak is Professor Emerita and a Fellow of the UKTPO. Traditionally, the legal enforcement of obligations was the Achilles heel of bilateral and multilateral international agreements. The EU has signalled that it wants to conduct international trade based upon the rule of law. The demise of the WTO Appellate body since 11 December 2019 has focused the EU into using and bolstering its own Dispute Resolution mechanisms in international trade agreements. The significance of this approach is seen in the Trade and Co-operation Agreement between the EU and the UK 2020, containing innovative procedures for rebalancing the trade elements of the TCA (and ultimately cancelling them) if one side changes its standards in ways that materially affect trade. Such rebalancing can be triggered in several circumstances, including via periodic reviews of the whole trade relationship. […]

By Nick Phipps|2021-02-18T14:59:48+00:0018 February 2021|UK- EU|0 Comments

Can a notification under Article 50 TEU be unilaterally withdrawn?

17 March 2017 Guest blog by Paul Eden, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Sussex Introduction Now that the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act has received Royal Assent, the UK government is on track to meet its deadline of invoking Article 50 of the Treaty of European Union (TEU) by the end of March. Whilst it seems inevitable that the UK will indeed invoke Article 50 a key question that remains is whether we can change our minds and stop the whole process, perhaps when we are a year down the line or if there was a change in government in the UK. […]

By Nick Phipps|2017-03-17T16:11:34+00:0017 March 2017|UK- EU|24 Comments

Triggering Article 50 TEU: a positive result for the Government?

26 January 2017 Erika Szyszczak is a Professor of Law at the University of Sussex, Barrister and ADR Mediator at Littleton Chambers, Temple and a Fellow of theUKTPO. It is a monumental decision for a Member State to leave the European Union, not least when it will have a major impact on the economic, political and social future, not only of the exiting Member State, but also of the global trading regime. It is thus befitting that on 24 January 2017 the Supreme Court came of age by delivering one of its most important rulings, on the nature and future shape of the UK constitution. What started as a case concerning acquired rights became a wider ranging analysis of the role of the executive vis-a-vis Parliament. As befits a monumental constitutional decision, taking place in the digital age, the responses to the ruling have been prolific and focused upon the constitutional dimension to the litigation. […]

By Nick Phipps|2017-01-26T09:38:46+00:0026 January 2017|UK- EU|0 Comments

The Singapore and Ukraine Trade Deals: EU Trade Policy in a post-Brexit World

13 January 2017 Erika Szyszczak is a Professor of Law at the University of Sussex, Barrister and ADR Mediator at Littleton Chambers, Temple and a Fellow of the UKTPO. EU trade policy has been cast into shadow by the sharp focus on how the UK will conduct its future trade policy. But it will be in the interests of the EU and the UK to negotiate their future trading relationship as quickly and smoothly as possible. An issue for the EU will be the question of whether it will have exclusive competence to negotiate and ratify a trade deal with the UK. Or will it be forced to acknowledge that any future agreement will be a mixed agreement requiring, and risking, ratification by all 27 Member States? Two events at the end of 2016 have shed light on the legal and political issues facing the EU in negotiating a post-Brexit world. […]

By Nick Phipps|2017-01-13T13:27:08+00:0013 January 2017|UK- EU|1 Comment

Brexit: the lawyer’s first 100 days

30 September 2016 Erika Szyszczak is Professor of Law in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology at the University of Sussex, and a member of UKTPO. The “first 100 days” has become a standard by which to evaluate important political times. Undoubtedly, the momentous decision on 23 June 2016 to break up the current geopolitical space of Europe will be examined by historians as a decisive period of modern European history. From a lawyer’s perspective the most striking feature of the last 100 days has been the legal uncertainty of how to implement the referendum result. This represents the challenge we love. So this blog examines some of these uncertainties. […]

By Nick Phipps|2016-09-30T13:19:12+01:0030 September 2016|UK- EU|0 Comments

Delaying EU-UK trade negotiations would cost billions – in the best-case scenario

22 August 2016 Dr Emily Lydgate is a Lecturer in Law in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology at the University of Sussex, and is a member of UKTPO According to government sources at the weekend, the UK probably won’t trigger Article 50 until late 2017. At this point, it is crucial the EU and UK begin negotiating their new trade agreement. Delaying until after Brexit and relying on WTO rules in the meantime would cost the UK billions – in the best case scenario. The worst case would see trade conflicts erupting and negotiations with the rest of the world in indefinite limbo. […]

By Nick Phipps|2016-08-22T13:13:13+01:0022 August 2016|UK- EU|0 Comments

Heaven or hell? Brexit legal issues analysed through ‘Hotel California’ lyrics

11 August 2016 Erika Szyszczak is Professor of Law in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology at the University of Sussex, and a member of UKTPO. This post sets out some of the legal issues arising after the referendum of 23 June 2016, taking a generous liberty with the interpretation of the lyrics of The Eagles’ song “Hotel California”. […]

By Nick Phipps|2016-08-11T11:49:22+01:0011 August 2016|UK - Non EU, UK- EU|0 Comments

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