Ensuring a Human Rights-Compliant Brexit

Grant: £80,092
November 13, 2017

Liberty will undertake research, monitor actions of public officials, and produce expert publications targeted to audiences to provide robust and accurate information about the human rights implications of Brexit.

These publications will include:

• briefings to parliamentarians and policymakers who are struggling to grasp wide-ranging and complex issues;
• white papers intended for an expert audience grappling with the nuances of law and policy; and
• accessible public communications designed to ensure that facts are not overwhelmed by soundbites around Brexit.

These publications will focus on:

• the risk human rights protections will be rolled back and democratic scrutiny undermined in the process of incorporating European Union (EU) law after Brexit;
• the risk human rights protections will be eroded in the process of direct negotiations between the UK and the EU over international agreements implicating justice, security, data protection, immigration and asylum.

The project leverages Liberty’s expertise, supporting the work of other organisations working toward similar goals to educate parliamentarians and policymakers through briefings and media advocacy. Liberty will collaborate closely with AIUK and the Public Law Project (PLP), play an active role in the “Repeal Bill Alliance” hosted by Unlock Democracy, and participate in the forthcoming Bingham Centre Expert Working Group.

A legal mapping and research project to produce a strong, non-partisan analysis of the legal implications of Brexit

Grant: £100,000
November 9, 2016

This project is to undertake legal mapping and research to produce a strong, non-partisan analysis of the legal implications of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, specifically from a human rights and equality perspective. The audience will be NGOs and charities in the rights and social welfare fields, Government bodies, the legal community, policy-makers and parliamentarians, and grassroots advice services.

There are swathes of legislation concerning human rights issues that will be affected either because the laws are reliant on the EC Act 1972, are contained in EU law with direct effect or because domestic law has been brought about as a result of EU requirements. The scope of this project will cover crucial rights including (but not limited to) equality, maternity rights, data protection, immigration, asylum, trade union protection, victims’ rights, freedom of movement and trafficking.

A docket of research documents around specific legal issues will be produced which will be shared with relevant organisations, as well as providing advice and information to the public and grassroots advice services.