Removal of the Frankovich Principle from UK law Repeal Bill Debate 14th Nov 2017 скачать в хорошем качестве

Removal of the Frankovich Principle from UK law Repeal Bill Debate 14th Nov 2017

Clause 4 of the Great Repeal Bill (The European Union Withdrawal Bill) removes the right of every individual in the UK to sue the State and claim damages for a breach of EU law that harms them. For example UK citizens may be subject to an illegal action by the UK Government in relation to the application of tax, environmental law, employment law and many other areas of legislation. Francovich is the name of a court case that set the primary precedent for the principle of State Liability. Andrea Francovich was a brave individual who sued Italy and won. He was illegally denied compensation when his employer went into liquidation. The Italian State had failed to implement EU law that insured his earnings where paid when his employer was unable to pay them. Francovich damages guarantees individuals compensation for the harm resulting from a breach of EU law by the State. The Repeal Bill Bill States : Rule in Francovich : 4 There is no right in domestic law on or after exit day to damages in accordance with the rule in Francovich. There is no comparable right to sue the State in UK law for damages once the Francovich precedent is denied to UK citizens. Judicial Review does not grant damages and cannot deal with facts (it only corrects incorrect applications of the law). Judicial Review is also very expensive is conducted by the UK Courts and claimants generally do not get back any of their costs. This outright attack on the rights of every individual in the UK to hold their Government to account was debated in the House of Commons on the 14th of November 2017. Due to its technical nature most people were unaware of the importance of this debate. The Francovich debate was potentially the most important debate of the entire bill because it dealt with the removal of the right of individuals to hold the authorities to account. Amendments introduced to try and salvage Francovich were dismissed as a result of the party whip despite the fact that those few MPs with a legal background (Dominic Grieve QC, Joanna Cherry QC and Dame Cheryl Gillan) clearly highlighted flaws in the bill. Francovich is a fundamental right for individuals that is comparable to those granted by Magna Carta and The Charter of The Forest. The Great Repeal Bill seeks not only to deny that right generally but also seeks to deny the right of a reference to the European Court to those individuals who have already lodged Francovich proceedings prior to Brexit. This breaches the British legal principle of legitimate expectation (the right to call upon the rules as they stood at the time legal proceedings commenced). In effect the Bill changes the rules in the past which sets a very dangerous precedent allowing the State to retrospectively adjust rules to its advantage and deny individuals justice. Since the European Court is independent from the Member State being sued the right of a reference to an Independent and competent court is an essential component of any action taken by an individual against a Member State under EU law. The UK Government has yet to address this issue in any meaningful way or explain exactly why the principle of State Liability needs to be removed from UK law, even if the UK does leave the jurisdiction of the EU Court. Removing the right of the individual to hold the State to account for harmful breaches of the law is of no benefit to any citizen of the UK whatsoever.