ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note looked at the potential effect of Brexit in the period prior to 11pm (GMT) on 31 December 2020 (IP completion day) on private M&A transactions, ie transactions involving the sale and purchase of shares or the business/assets of a private limited company or unlisted public limited company pursuant to either a share purchase agreement (SPA) or an asset purchase agreement (APA). For information on the effect of Brexit on private M&A sale and purchase agreements following IP completion day, see Practice Note: Brexit—IP completion day impact on private M&A sale and purchase agreements [Archived]. At 11pm UK time on 31 January 2020 (exit day), the United Kingdom left the European Union in accordance with a ratified Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU. The UK is now regarded by the EU as a ‘third country’, ie it is a country that is not an EU Member State or a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Nevertheless, in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK’s relationship

Status of the UK This document is archived and no longer maintained. From exit day (31 January 2020) the UK is no longer an EU Member State. However, in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK entered an implementation period, during which it continued to be subject to EU law. References to exit day in many Brexit SIs are to be read as reference to IP completion day (Implementation Period completion day, defined in clause 39 as 31 December 2020 at 11.00 pm) (unless that provision is expressly disapplied by the SI in question). For further details, see News Analysis: Brexit—impact of the Withdrawal Agreement and European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 for R&I lawyers and Brexit Bulletin—key updates, research tips and resources. We look at some of the likely issues for R&I lawyers and professionals relating to the winding-up process under the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) and Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (IR 2016), SI 2016/1024. This Practice Note is part of a suite of documents considering the impact of Brexit including:

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note discusses the legal implications for Scotland of the UK exiting the EU. Specific implications arise, in particular, from the UK’s arrangements for the devolution of legislative and executive powers to the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government under the Scotland Act 1998 (SA 1998), as amended progressively (primarily to increase legislative and taxation powers) by the Scotland Act 2012 (SA 2012) and the Scotland Act 2016 (SA 2016) (together, the Scotland Acts). For further guidance on Brexit, see: Scotland collection. Scotland's constitutional arrangements The starting point is that the position of Scotland in what is now the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has its constitutional foundation in the Act of Union between Scotland and England. Although devolution has re-ordered its internal governance, the position of the UK as a single and continuing sovereign State has not been affected by the enactment of the Scotland Acts. The Scotland Acts confer an extensive

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note provides information on the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/419, the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/1586, and key aspects of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement and EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement as relevant to data protection. It is not maintained and is for background information only. For more information about ongoing divergence between the data protection rules under the GDPR regimes, see Practice Note: Introduction to the EU GDPR and UK GDPR. This Practice Note discusses the impact of Brexit on the general processing of personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (EU GDPR), which became directly applicable in the UK and all other EU Member States on 25 May 2018 and which has governed the processing of personal data across the EEA (the EU plus Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein), since its incorporation into the EEA Agreement. In the UK, the adoption of the EU GDPR into UK law was assisted

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note considers the relevance of the Withdrawal Agreement to the life sciences sector and the respective roles of the EU and UK regulators. It briefly outlines the relevance of the EU law to the sector and considers the impact of the Withdrawal Agreement on marketing authorisations (MAs) and medicinal products regulatory framework, medical devices, clinical trials, research and development, data protection, and import-export. Relationship with EU law—the Withdrawal Agreement The life sciences sector is one of the most highly regulated and globally harmonised industry sectors. A large amount of the regulation originates from the EU in the form of directives or regulations and is supplemented by guidance issued by the European Commission and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the decentralised agency of the EU responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines in the EU. The Withdrawal Agreement, which was approved by the UK Parliament by way of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement)

The UK’s formal withdrawal from the EU took effect at 11 pm on 31 January 2020 (exit day). At this point, the withdrawal period under Article 50 TEU came to an end and the ratified Withdrawal Agreement setting out the legal terms of the UK’s withdrawal entered into force. The ratified Withdrawal agreement was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on exit day along with the Political Declaration on the framework for the future relationship between the UK and EU: • Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, OJ L 29 31.01.20, p 7-187 • Political declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom, OJ C 34 31.01.20, p 1-16 Exit day marked a key milestone in terms of being the date the UK ceased to be an EU Member State. It also marked the start of the 11-month transition or implementation

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. The UK and EU’s specific proposals for dealing with jurisdiction of disputes will be a key issue for UK practitioners. This Practice Note considers the impact that Brexit will have on determining jurisdiction or understanding choice of court agreements when the UK leaves the EU. It considers the current position, as determined under Regulation (EU) 1215/2012, Brussels I (recast). It then summarises the UK’s and EU’s respective positions and considers the likely potential outcomes, based on the information available, for such issues. The Practice Note considers potential issues that may arise when the UK leaves the EU. It also considers potential regimes that may assist in determining the jurisdiction, being the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements and the Lugano Convention 2007. Finally, it considers the drafting of a jurisdiction clause. For an understanding of how a deal or no deal position may be reached, the House of Commons Exiting the EU Committee report: The progress of the UK’s negotiations on EU withdrawal (June to

Background—EU law in the UK Pre-exit day The European Communities Act 1972 (ECA 1972) was introduced and intended to give effect to the UK's obligations as a Member State under the relevant EU treaties to comply with EU law. Under ECA 1972, s 2(1), certain types of EU rights and obligations, which are intended to be directly effective, were given effect in the UK without the need for any further domestic legislation. This included rights in the EU Treaties as well as EU regulations which contain detailed legal rules. Other types of EU law were given effect through UK regulations made under ECA 1972, s 2(2), or in some cases through separate Acts of Parliament. This included EU directives which set out broad outcomes or frameworks but which leave it to each Member State to make its own provision to achieve the required legal effect. In terms of its application in Member States, EU law is ‘supreme’. This means that where there is a conflict between EU law and a Member State’s domestic legislation,

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Key publications on possible implications for environmental law More than 90% of environmental law is estimated to have derived from EU legislation and so the implications of Brexit on environmental law will be very significant. A number of government departments, committees in parliament, advisory committees and independent parliamentary bodies, academic institutions and environmental law associations, industry bodies and NGOs, as well as the European Commission, have carried out research into these possible implications and this Practice Note lists some of the most significant publications. Brexit impact: 11 pm (GMT) on 31 December 2020 marks the end of the Brexit transition/implementation period entered into following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. At this point in time (referred to in UK law as ‘IP completion day’), key transitional arrangements come to an end and significant changes begin to take effect across the UK’s legal regime. Any changes relevant to this content will be set out below. For further guidance, see Practice Note: Brexit—impact

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note enables you to keep track of Brexit-related legislation of relevance to employment practitioners which is coming up or has already come into force. For details of general employment-related legislation, see: Legislation tracker—employment. Links to news reports providing full information on the relevant legislation are included where appropriate. Brexit-related legislation of relevance to employment practitioners Commencement date (unless otherwise indicated) Legislative change By 31 December 2023 (other provisions subject to commencement orders) Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Under the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (previously known as the Brexit Freedoms Bill), the special status of retained EU law under UK law will be ended from the end of 2023. Retained EU law includes the Working Time Regulations 1998, the Equality Act 2010, TUPE 2006, the Agency Worker Regulations 2010 and Part-time Worker Regulations 2000. The Bill will enable the government to specify, amend, repeal and replace retained EU law more easily via secondary legislation. The Bill contains provisions on sunsetting the majority of retained EU law, ending the principle

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note considers the impact that Brexit will have on the service of court documents within the EU when the UK leaves the EU. It considers the current position under Regulation (EC) 1393/2007, the Service Regulation and summarises the UK and EU’s respective positions and considers the likely potential outcomes, based on the information available. The Practice Note then considers potential issues which may arise when the UK exits the EU and potential regimes which may assist when seeking to serve judicial and extra-judicial documents in the EU. For an understanding of how a deal or no deal position may be reached, the House of Commons Exiting the EU Committee report: The progress of the UK’s negotiations on EU withdrawal (June to September 2018) at para [35] provides a useful flowchart. Current position When seeking to serve documents out of the UK on a party in an EU Member State, the methods of service are provided for in Regulation (EC) 1393/2007, the Service

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note considers the impact that Brexit will have on determining the settlement of disputes using either mediation or other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) when the UK exits the EU. It considers the current position under EU directive for mediation is the Mediation Directive 2008/52/EC, the Cross-Border Mediation (EU Directive) Regulations 2011, SI 2011/1133 transposed the directive into the law of England and Wales and relevant EU directive for ADR is the European Directive 2013/11/EU on ADR which amends Regulation (EC) 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC. ADR for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/542 transposed the directive into the law of England and Wales. It then summarises the UK and EU’s respective positions, considers the likely potential outcomes which may arise when the UK exits the EU as well as potential regimes which may assist when seeking to mediate disputes and enforce settlement agreements. For an understanding of how a deal or no deal position may be reached, the House of Commons