Roundup: Legal complexities present Brexit challenge for devolved British governments

The legal complexities of carrying out Britain's departure from the European Union (EU) present a challenge to the relationship between Britain's national government and its three devolved parliaments and governments.

The nations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, each has a form of parliament and government with devolved powers from the central government, which sits in London.

The complexity and potential hurdles for a swift and successful exit from the EU by Britain center around which powers currently held by the EU would be devolved back to British parliaments.

In addition, the level of participation that the devolved British parliaments -- the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly -- could have in triggering Article 50, which formally begins a two-year period in which the exit must take place, and in the subsequent negotiations is also a key area of concern.

Joanne Hunt, an expert in EU law at the Law School of Cardiff University, told a press briefing at King's College in London on Wednesday that Brexit would "involve an untangling of 40 years of incredibly dense and intertwining legal orders across a huge range of policy areas. A neat excision of EU law simply isn't possible."

"At the UK level we have a need to work out how this unmaking and then remaking of legal relations with the EU will work in (the UK's) uncodified and evolving constitutional order where legal certainties may be low, and political expectations may be high and possibly conflicting," Hunt said.

In areas such as agriculture, environment and regional policy, the devolved parliaments currently strictly administer EU law, which is allowed by British central government legislation passed in 1972 when Britain joined the EU.

"Once Brexit takes place that will open up and there will be more space for divergence for the 'devolveds' to take their own line on things, perhaps," said Hunt.

Hunt raised the concern of the three devolved parliaments about their participation in the triggering of withdrawal and in the negotiation process.

"The opportunity for devolved nations to get their voices heard in this process may not be as extensive as first assumed," she said.

"For the devolved nations there is more claim to be involved -- for the governments and also for their parliaments. An involvement in the process of triggering Article 50, in the negotiations that follow and in the subsequent ratification of any resulting international agreements and the adoption of resulting domestic legal frameworks. The claims...go as far as demanding that consent is required."

Under an agreement called the Sewell Convention, the national British parliament is not expected to legislate on devolved matters without the express consent of the devolved parliaments. Hunt said this political understanding has been given force in the recent Scotland Act and will also be in the Government of Wales Act, shortly to be enacted. There is a potential under this convention for friction between the actions of the British parliament and the desires of the devolved parliaments.

"The devolved nations have set out their red lines and core concerns some of which they will seek to feed into the UK line to be heard at the EU level; some of which are domestic policies -- Will we have a development fund UK-wide or will we have specific policies?" Hunt added.

For Scotland, there is an emphasis on continued membership of the EU single market, including free movement of people, said Hunt.

In Wales, where the mandate for action is different because the devolved government supported the "remain" cause but a majority of the electorate voted to leave, the government approach is to maintain access to the single market in goods and services.

"As far as Northern Ireland is concerned, there are significant specific concerns about the possible reappearance of a hard border to the South...," said Hunt.

Legal actions are currently taking place in the civil courts in Belfast and London which may provide legal pointers to what the devolved governments can expect, and a result in the Belfast court is expected before the end of this month. Endi