Fair Trial Rights in the UK Post Brexit
| Published date | 01 December 2016 |
| Author | Dimitrios Giannnoulopoulos |
| DOI | 10.1177/203228441600700402 |
| Date | 01 December 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Analysis and Opinions |
New Journal of Eu ropean Crimina l Law, Vol. 7, Issue 4, 2016 387
ANALYSIS AND OPINIONS
FAIR TRIALRIGHTS IN THE UK POST BREXIT
Out with the Charter and EU Law,
in with the ECHR?
D G*
Following the his toric June 23 decision of the UK people to exit the Europea n Union,
confusion abounds about the f uture of Britain in Europe. With a negoti ation possibly
still months away, both the UK a nd the ‘remaining’ 27 EU Member States have held
their cards close to thei r chest, that is assuming they have a master plan for the
labyrinthi ne negotiation that awaits them a head. A June 24 New York Times op-ed
spoke of ‘Britain’s Brexit leap in the dark’.1 Five months on this pessimistic analysis
does not seem at all far f rom the truth,2 with eresa May going so far as to suggest in
Parliament that the U K has not decided yet how to proceed with Brexit:
It is about developing our ow n British model. So we w ill not take decisions unti l we are
ready. We will not reveal our h and prematurely. And we wi ll not provide a run ning
commentary.3
As we are moving forward i n these unchartered waters, in an environment of
disorientation and ‘politica l poker’, we nd ourselves le with little more than an
ability for speculation. On t he common market, immigr ation, agriculture, busi ness
and education, to take a few sta rk illustrations, all is real ly to play for in deciding the
UK’s future relat ionship wit h Europe. e outcome of the negotiations can
theoretical ly range from the ext reme of quasi-EU member status to burning bridges
* College Assoc iate Dean and Senior Le cturer in Crimi nal Law, Brunel University L ondon; Director,
‘Britain in Eu rope’ think t ank: ww w.brineurope.com. A n earlier version of t his article w as published
as part of a ‘Britain in Europe’ policy report on ‘Brexit: Opportunities, Challenges and the Road
Ahead’ (October 2016), pp. 68-77, available at ttp://www.brineurope.com/brexit-policy-report>.
Dr Giannoulopou los is grateful to Prof Ed Ca pe, of Bristol Law School, and Libby McVeigh, Lega l
and Policy Direc tor at Fair Trials Internat ional, for commenting upon an e arly dra .
1 R Cohen, ‘Britain’s Brexit leap i n the dark’, e New York Times, 24June 2016.
2 P Papakonstant inou, ‘Uncertainty on both sid es of the Channel’, Kathi merini, 28August 2016 (in
Greek).
3 J Henley and P Walker, ‘Brex it weekly brie ng: we ’re going to be kept in t he dark’, e Guard ian,
13September 2016.
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