May: We will take back control of our laws after Brexit

The Supreme Court will be the ultimate arbiter of law in the UK after Brexit, Theresa May has said, as a government paper called for an end to the "direct jurisdiction" of EU courts in the country.

But the highly anticipated paper on dispute resolution suggests EU judges could continue to exercise jurisdiction in the transitional period after Britain's membership of the EU ends in March 2019.

It said the Government would work with the EU in the interim period - "including the arrangements for judicial supervision".

The document says "withdrawal from the EU will mean a return to the situation where the UK and the EU have their own autonomous legal orders".

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It says establishing a "deep and special relationship" with the EU will require a new dispute-resolution mechanism, citing several existing methods, such as joint committees and arbitration panels.

Some of these examples point to a possible role for the ECJ, whether it is to pay "due account" to relevant ECJ decisions or to refer to its interpretation of the law.

The paper has raised fears among Brexit hardliners that the UK could be bound by decisions of European judges for years after it leaves the EU.

Some have said Mrs May was effectively backtracking from her repeated promise that Brexit Britain would be in full control of its laws.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "The Government is clearly backtracking on its earlier red lines and saying there has to be some form of dispute resolution through some form of judicial process and that's obviously the case and we've indeed said that all along."

Speaking shortly before the publication of the paper, she rejected the claim she was backtracking.

"When we leave the European Union we will be leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice," Mrs May said during a visit to Guildford in Surrey.

"What we will be able to do is to make our own laws.

"Parliament will make our laws, it is British judges who will interpret those laws and it will be the British Supreme Court that will be the ultimate arbiter of those laws.

"We will take back control of our laws."

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ensures member states abide by EU law, interprets EU law and settles disputes between countries and EU institutions. Its rulings are binding.

Eurosceptics say it has sucked power from British courts and Parliament, and getting rid of its power over UK courts was a key promise of the Leave campaign ahead of the Brexit referendum last June.

For the EU, the Luxembourg-based court is the guarantor of EU law and must protect its citizens, including those living in Britain.

The court has now emerged as a stumbling block in negotiations with Brussels.

The paper - the latest document to be published in London ahead of a new round of talks next week - sets out the Government's position on a new legal framework for Britain's future relationship with the EU.

It outlines guiding principles behind the UK's approach, including maximising certainty for individuals and businesses and continuing to respect its international legal obligations.

Labour MP Chuka Umunna, a leading supporter of the Open Britain campaign against a hard Brexit, said the document was yet another example of the Government backtracking from earlier promises.

"It is proving impossible to deliver Brexit in the terms it was sold to people," he told Sky News.

Speaking ahead of the blueprint's publication, justice minister Dominic Raab insisted that there was "no climbdown, no confusion".

He said the UK wanted a new mechanism that would ensure that "both sides have confidence in that process". As EU and UK law diverge after Brexit, it will make sense for the UK to keep "half an eye" on what the EU is doing and vice versa, he said.

Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator, tweeted: "UKgov wants to keep 'half an eye' on ECJ rulings. EP thinks ECJ must keep both eyes open to protect #citizensrights."