A reordering: to teach EU law or not?

Figures & data

Table 1. Legal hierarchy during membership of the EU.

Hierarchy	Parliamentary sovereignty/EU law
	UK law

Table 2. Legal hierarchy in the UK after Brexit.

Hierarchy	Parliamentary sovereignty
	Withdrawal Agreement/TCA
	Retained EU law
	UK law in operation before the end of 2020

Table 3. The period 2024–2026

Parliamentary sovereignty
Withdrawal Agreement/TCA
UK legislation		Executive authority may determine that specified law should be interpreted or have effects equivalent to fundamental EU doctrines including supremacy over other UK laws
Assimilated law (previously retained EU law) (UK law specified to be subordinate to assimilated law)

Table

Course aims	To study EU law	Comments
Immigration law: citizens’ rights	✓	Withdrawal Agreement requires understanding of key EU principles. There is a need to appreciate the underlying doctrines of EU law which apply to protect these rights.
To learn about another legal system and a basis to critique the common law	✓
Studying Brexit and its impact	✓	Understanding of EU legal doctrines, EU law and interpretation prior to and after Brexit will be necessary to understanding the Brexit settlements.
Preparation for the Bar	?	The place of EU law in the Bar’s academic requirements will be subject to review and revision from 2024 when key effects of the 2023 Act take effect.
To learn about the EU’s supranational legal system as implanted on to UK legal systems	Limited	Relates to citizens’ rights across the UK and free movement of goods in Northern Ireland (though it is untested whether EU law per se operates in the UK to protect EU citizens’ rights).
Specialist areas, eg environmental standards, competition, data protection, cross-border crime.	Added value	As far as they align with TCA obligations or future collaborations between the EU and the UK. Understanding the equivalent EU policy and law will give context to understanding and critiquing the UK’s laws and policies.