Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, which the EU rules are which are referred to in paragraph 42 of Chapter Four of the White Paper, The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, Cm. 9593, published on 12 July 2018, which would be interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union under the proposals contained in that paragraph.

UK courts would pay due regard to CJEU case law in only those areas where the UK continued to apply a common rulebook. The common rulebook will cover goods including agri-food, where those rules are necessary to provide for frictionless trade at the border.

Where the UK agrees to retain a common rulebook with the EU, it will be important for businesses and citizens here and in the EU that those areas are interpreted and applied consistently. The UK has therefore proposed that it would commit by treaty that its courts would pay due regard to CJEU case law, insofar as this was relevant to the matter before them. This is a recognition of legal fact - no other court can bind the EU on the meaning of EU law.

However, these rights would be enforced in the UK by UK courts and in the EU by EU courts.

No longer will courts in the UK be able to refer cases to the CJEU, including in cases involving individuals and businesses. And at present, the UK is bound by all CJEU decisions - hundreds of decisions every year which have direct effect in the UK, whether the case originated in the UK or not. This will no longer be the case.