Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of leaving the EU on the UK’s legal sectors.

Leaving the single market will have implications for market access and some UK and EU service suppliers will not enjoy the same rights as they do today. The Political Declaration outlines the EU and the UK’s commitment to, among other things, ambitious arrangements for services and investment that go well beyond WTO commitments, and build on recent EU FTAs.

Delivering the deal negotiated with the EU remains the Government’s top priority. Alongside this the Government is also accelerating no deal preparations to ensure the country is prepared for every eventuality. The technical notice providing services including those of a qualified professional if there's no Brexit deal, published by the Government on 12 October 2018 sets out the implications of a no deal exit for EEA legal professionals and business owners in the UK. An impact assessment was published alongside the SI implementing these changes.

As outlined in the EU Commission technical notice published on 21 June 2018, in a no deal scenario the rights of practice, ownership and establishment of UK nationals and businesses in the EU will be governed by the national policies and rules of individual member states.