(Bloomberg) -- The head of the U.K. Supreme Court said the judges won't assist British lawmakers with the wording of the legal document they need to pass before Brexit can happen next year.
“We do not see it as our job to tell government what we would like to see specifically in wording in a piece of legislation,” the president of the Supreme Court, Brenda Hale, told a parliamentary committee Wednesday. It would be “inappropriate for the separation of powers.”
The Supreme Court previously said the government must provide a clearer picture of how European Union legal decisions should continue to affect British law after Brexit. The judge said further guidance is needed on the section of the draft bill that sets out the U.K.'s relationship with the European Court of Justice after withdrawal.
The draft bill's passage through the House of Commons in January was bumpy, and the document must now find its way through Parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords. Some Lords are looking to amend the legislation and could press on the courts to offer guidance. But despite having reservations about the phrasing of the document, the U.K.'s top judges -- who ruled the bill needed parliamentary approval in the first place -- are reluctant to overstep their bounds.
Judge Hale called the current proposed legislation “unhelpful” and told the committee the judiciary is working with the government to find solutions. But the courts won't be approving any specific wording.
“What we can do is point out the problems with the existing draft. That's what's been happening,” Hale said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Hannah George in London at hgeorge13@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Christopher Elser, Stuart Biggs
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