EU legislative process

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This subtopic contains a range of resources relating to EU legislative process, procedures and principles relevant to the types of legislation which fall under the umbrella of EU law, including:

  1. •

    EU Treaties (and all their amendments)

  2. •

    Regulations

  3. •

    Directives

  4. •

    Decisions

  5. •

    Opinions and Recommendations

  6. •

    Tertiary legislation (including implementing and delegated legislation)

EU law is developed further by the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and legal principles developed by it.

The EU is based on the rule of law. Actions taken by the EU are founded on treaties approved voluntarily and democratically by all EU Member States. Under the principle of conferral, if a policy area is not cited in a treaty, the European Commission cannot propose a law in that area as it is not an EU competence.

There are different types of EU legal documents. A treaty is a binding agreement between EU Member States setting out EU objectives, rules for relevant EU institutions, how decisions are made and the relationship between the EU and its Member States. Amendments allow for EU enlargement, and areas of co-operation.

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Latest Public Law News

Lady Chief Justice publishes annual report

The Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales has published her annual report covering October 2024 to September 2025, highlighting criminal justice system reforms including two independent reviews by David Gauke and Sir Brian Leveson, and a Crown Court caseload crisis with outstanding cases reaching 78,329 by June 2025. The report details increased magistrates' sentencing powers from 6-12 months, a consultation on abolishing Local Justice Areas receiving over 1,400 responses and expansion of Pathfinder family courts to Wales and West Yorkshire.

Supreme Court dismisses appeals but urges Scottish courts to modify approach to admissibility in sexual offences trials—Daly v HM Advocate, Keir v HM Advocate

The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed appeals brought by two appellants convicted of rape and other sexual offences, challenging the exclusion of evidence that might have assisted their defences. The key issue was whether the Scottish courts’ approach to the admission of evidence concerning the complainer’s credibility or reliability in trials for sexual offences was liable to infringe the defendant’s rights to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Supreme Court found that the Scottish courts should modify their approach to the admission of evidence in such cases as it was liable to result in violations of the rights of the accused under Article 6 ECHR. However, on the facts, the Supreme Court found that no such violation had occurred in this case and both appellants had received a fair trial, hence the appeals were dismissed. Lord Reed gave the judgment with which the other members of the court agreed. The Lexis+® UK Public Law team comments on the judgment.

DSIT introduces Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to protect essential UK services

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has introduced the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to Parliament, which aims to strengthen the UK’s cyber defences against cybercriminals and state-backed actors. The Bill focuses on safeguarding essential public services such as the NHS, transport, energy and drinking water providers. It seeks to bring medium and large managed service providers—those offering IT management, help desk support and cyber security services to public and private sector organisations like the NHS—under regulation.

Supreme Court Justice speech argues common law remains primary source for human rights protection

Lord Briggs of Westbourne JSC has said that common law, rather than the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998), should remain the foundation of human rights protection in the UK. Speaking at the Justice Annual Conference to mark the HRA’s 25th anniversary, Lord Briggs argued that common law provides the cause of action even in cases where the HRA 1998 ensures compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights. Lord Briggs added that a quarter-century of HRA influence has strengthened the common law to the extent that it could continue to function effectively if the UK were to repeal the HRA 1998 or withdraw from the Convention. He cited the development of privacy law and the incorporation of the proportionality principle as examples of lasting improvements within the common law system.

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