The exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union has not been a simple or quick process. This type of socio-economic transformation requires profound changes that must be faced by adjusting the existing legal frameworks. No modification can be sustained without the adaptation of the regulations and legal parameters that give them validity.
This situation has been clear during the transition process being experienced in the United Kingdom, after the "Brexit" victory (name coined by the term Britain Exit) last June 23, 2016.
The adjustments in the laws and the decisions they bring with them have entailed significant economic costs. The Department for Exiting the European Union of the United Kingdom has estimated that the expenses in legal fees are around 3.7 million pounds sterling. The amount has only been exceeded by payroll payments to the human resources in charge of the whole process.
Of this total, £0.7 million was spent on court cases. related to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. Half a million of the amount was used to pay legal fees for the winners of these cases.
Expressions from the parliament on legal costs
Mixed voices are heard in the British parliament. Regarding the expenses related to lawyers' fees for the Brexit issue. The Liberal Democrat backbench strongly criticized what it considers a waste of resources. Faced with the radical positions of the government's Conservatives on Brexit.
The opposition denounced that the unnecessary spending is due to the battle of the conservative party to approve Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. This without following the established mechanisms of the Parliament vote.
The Treaty of Lisbon is a legal regulation in force since 2009. It establishes the functioning of the European Union. In its Article 50 it contemplates for the first time the possibility that a member state of the European Union may leave it voluntarily. However, the procedure to be followed for this purpose is not detailed. This is why many consider it to be uncharted territory. The provision establishes that the exit is negotiated taking into account the framework of the country's future trade relations with the European Union. Read the article here.
Speaking to the digital media outlet Public Finance, Shadow Brexit secretary-Keir Starmer-warned that "to have spent more than £1 million of taxpayers' money trying to avoid parliamentary scrutiny is evidence of the government's closed and divisive approach to Brexit.". Parliament's debate on the procedure for withdrawal from the European Union would have saved the economic resources spent that have generated so much discontent in the opposition.
On Brexit
The terrain of the transformations following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union remains unknown. Some predict that Brexit could generate legal uncertainties. Complicated economic-financial situations for the United Kingdom and its trading allies.
The definition of new legal instruments to regulate the UK's commercial activities with other European countries has required the search for expert lawyers in the area of commercial and administrative law, before the definitive separation to be executed in 2019.
Some law firms were able to anticipate and started to evaluate possible scenarios. And thus offer solutions to the clients they serve. With the intention of reducing the impact that this situation, experienced for the first time in the EU, would have on the interests of their clients.
So far, the separation of the United Kingdom has had a significant effect on real estate. Because these properties have decreased in cost, lawyers have suggested investors to evaluate these possibilities.
Sources consulted
