ABOUT THIS BOOK

The UK's decision to leave the European Union marks a fundamental reorientation in UK law and policy: both internally, when it comes to the structures, processes and outputs of our own domestic legal systems; and externally, as regards the UK's place in and relations with the broader European and international legal orders. Many of those who heartily championed and/or supported the ‘Brexit’ cause seem to have harboured only a limited comprehension of the scale and profundity of the changes they worked so hard to initiate. Many others positively delight in the prospect of being able, fundamentally, to rewrite the country's future direction, yet evince a comparable lack of understanding about the internal and external factors that will actually shape and constrain their grand revolutionary visions. This book seeks to offer its readers – be they students and postgraduate researchers, fellow academics and practitioners, policy-makers and NGOs, or indeed the interested public in the UK and abroad – a more informed and realistic basis upon which to understand the nature and importance of the challenges now facing the UK.

It goes almost without saying: this collection of essays is not intended to be either definitive or exhaustive of the legal and policy issues raised by the UK's withdrawal from the EU. The sheer range of fields which will be affected, combined with the general state of uncertainty about how events might now unfold, would militate against any such ambition. Instead, our aim is to highlight some of the key challenges which are likely to arise in selected areas of the UK legal system – thus providing a reference point for future discussion as the situation continues to develop, while also helping to identify parallel issues potentially affecting other policy sectors.

The essays are grouped into three main sections. Part I deals with some of the key constitutional issues arising from UK withdrawal.