Assimilated law and alignment

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This subtopic explains what assimilated law is, including its scope, status, interpretation and the treatment of assimilated case law. It also explains how assimilated law represents the second stage of adaptation of the domestic legal system following the UK’s departure from the EU, and how it derives from retained EU law, which applied during the 2021–23 period.

The subtopic also looks at powers to align UK law with EU law and explains legal developments relating to such alignment following the UK–EU ‘reset’ (since 2024).

Retained EU law and assimilated law

At the end of the Brexit implementation period on 31 December 2020, the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EU(W)A 2018) preserved or converted much of the EU-derived law then applying in the UK into a subset of domestic law to which special legal rules applied, known as retained EU law or REUL. This included EU-derived domestic legislation, direct EU legislation, and certain rights and obligations formerly recognised through section 2(1) of the European Communities Act 1972.

The

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