Il treaty-making power nell’era post-Brexit. Quale ruolo per il Parlamento di Westminster?

Abstract

The treaty-making power in the post-Brexit era. Which is Westminster Parliament’s role? – The essay examines the origins, the evolution, the actual functioning and the future perspectives of the United Kingdom’s system for Parliament’s scrutiny of treaties and other international agreements. Firstly, it focuses on both the foundations of Government’s treatymaking under the royal prerogative and the development of Parliament’s scrutiny from the absolutism to the establishment of the so-called “Ponsonby Rule”. Secondly, it analyses the features and the shortcomings of the two distinct roles Parliament has under the current system for its engagement with treaty-making process: on the one hand, the scrutiny of treaties laid pursuant to Part 2 of Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010; on the other hand, the scrutiny of any legislation necessary for the implementation of international obligations in the domestic law. Finally, the inquiry underlines and evaluates the attempts to improve these procedures in the post-Brexit era, as the patriation of the power to make free trade agreements with significant impacts on people’s lives is rising serious concerns over the little accountability and scrutiny of governmental treaty-making power.