Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023

13 Powers to restate or reproduce: general

(1) This section applies for the purposes of sections 11 and 12.

(2) A restatement may use words or concepts that are different from those used in the law being restated.

(3) A restatement may make any change which the relevant national authority considers appropriate for one or more of the following purposes—

(a) resolving ambiguities;

(b) removing doubts or anomalies;

(c) facilitating improvement in the clarity or accessibility of the law (including by omitting anything which is legally unnecessary).

(4) Regulations under section 11 or 12—

(a) may make provision about the relationship between what is restated and a relevant enactment specified in the regulations, but

(b) subject to that, may not make express provision about the relationship between what is restated and other enactments.

(5) Regulations under section 11 or 12 may not codify or reproduce the principle of the supremacy of EU law or a retained general principle of EU law.

(6) Nothing in subsection (5)—

(a) prevents regulations under section 11 or 12 from codifying or reproducing, in relation to a particular enactment, an effect equivalent to an effect which is produced, or would but for sections 2 to 4 be produced, in relation to the enactment by virtue of the principle of supremacy of EU law or retained general principles of EU law, or

(b) prevents regulations under section 11 or 12 which codify or reproduce anything which is or was retained EU law by virtue of section 4 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 from producing an effect equivalent to an effect which is produced, or would but for sections 2 to 4 be produced, in relation to that thing by virtue of the principle of supremacy of EU law or retained general principles of EU law.

(7) The provision that may be made by regulations under section 11 or 12 may be made by modifying any enactment.

(8) In sections 11 and 12, references to producing an effect that is equivalent to another effect are to doing so by express provision or otherwise.

(9) In subsection (4)(a) “relevant enactment” means—

(a) if the provision made by the regulations is made by modifying retained direct EU legislation, any retained direct EU legislation;

(b) otherwise, any domestic enactment (as defined by section 5 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018).

(10) In subsections (5) and (6) “retained general principles of EU law” has the same meaning as in section 11 or 12 (as the case may be).

(11) In this section “restatement”—

(a) in relation to section 11, has the same meaning as in that section;

(b) in relation to section 12, has the same meaning as in that section but also includes reproduction;

and similar references are to be read accordingly.