Katherine Deal and Andrew Young have had an article published in New Law Journal on the implications of Brexit for international travel claims.
On 7 June 2016, 3 Hare Court hosted a lively panel discussion on the implications for travel litigation of a then-hypothetical Brexit. Now that what was thought very unlikely just over a month ago has actually happened, international travel lawyers will need to consider urgently what the implications of the referendum result of 23 June are for the future conduct of international travel claims
Will Brexit have any impact on claims already running or claims about to be issued?
Although much is unclear about the likely outcome of the exit negotiations, one point not in doubt is that the negotiation process under Art 50 of the EU Treaty will not begin until the UK has notified the European Commission of its intention to leave the EU and that, during the negotiation period, the UK will remain a full member of the EU with all the privileges and obligations of membership. Therefore, as far as any current and pending claims are concerned, Brexit should have no immediate impact and there is no reason to rush in issuing proceedings in order to protect the position of prospective claimants.
However, one point that should be considered is the status of an English judgment obtained during the negotiations. Since the likelihood is that Regulation 1215/2012 will not be retained in exactly its present form, it cannot be assumed that any English judgment will be recognised and enforced by another member state once we are no longer ourselves a member state.
How will the negotiations be conducted?
There is no precedent for a withdrawal negotiation under Art 50. An express right of with-drawal was only introduced by the Lisbon Treaty of 2007 and came into force in December 2009. Under Art 50(2), after a member state has notified its intention to withdraw from the EU to the European Commission, it is the job of the European Council to provide guidelines for the negotiation process…..
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