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The Guardian is reporting that it has seen a letter revealing a rift between Attorney General @SuellaBraverman and Advocate General Lord Keen on the Internal Market Bill. /1 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/10/governments-top-legal-advisers-divided-over-move-to-override-brexit-deal
They agree that the Bill is a ‘clear breach’ of the UK’s international obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol. /2
But the Attorney General, according to the Guardian, disagreed with Keen about whether Ministers acting under the Bill would be breaching the Ministerial Code. /3
Keen is correct; Braverman is wrong. The Ministerial Code says that there is an overarching duty on Ministers to obey the law. /4 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/826920/August-2019-MINISTERIAL-CODE-FINAL-FORMATTED-2.pdf
The Code used to refer explicitly to international law but now refers only to ‘the law’, thanks a change made by the Cameron government. /5 https://publiclawforeveryone.com/2015/10/26/the-ministerial-code-and-international-law/
But the Court of Appeal has made it clear that the removal (by the Cameron government) of an explicit reference to international law did not relieve Ministers of the obligation to abide by it. /6 http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2018/1855.html
And the Cabinet Office, in 2015, accepted that ‘the law’ includes ‘international law’. /7 https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn03750/
The position is therefore perfectly clear: the Ministerial Code imposes an overarching duty on UK Government Ministers to comply with the law — including international law. /ends
