On 20 April 2017, Gough Square Chambers held a conference on the potential impact of Brexit on consumer law.
The conference was chaired by Iain MacDonald who provided an introduction to the topic and some of the issues, especially in light of the recent Brexit-themed white papers. Claire Andrews then discussed potential implications for food law, including the methodology of enforcing EU directives and how this may be replaced in a post-Brexit UK-EU trading scenario; Claire also discussed the systemic issues which may arise involving the EU institutions which may need to be replaced by UK bodies. Jonathan Goulding delivered a session on unfair commercial practices, including an overview of the current EU derived law together with the associated jurisprudence and the potential for divergence between the EU and the UK post-Brexit. Jeremy Barnett provided an overview of the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation and the impact that Brexit may have in this area; Jeremy considered the issue from the viewpoint of both data controllers and the ICO. Stephen Neville concluded the seminar by explaining the possible impact of Brexit on regulated lending, especially in light of the complex “patchwork” of regulation which has developed from domestic and European law; Stephen also considered the impact which Brexit may have on the FCA’s approach to the review of the retained provisions of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 which is ongoing.
The slide from the conference are available here.
If you require any further information, Chambers’ senior clerk Bob Weekes can be contacted at gsc@goughsq.co.uk