Brexit and Scotland: Centralism, Federalism or Independence?

Abstract

The public debate about the consequences of Brexit in Britain follows certain predictable lines of established academic concepts in British constitutional law. This arguably overlooks important constitutional complications of Brexit, including the position of Scotland in post-Brexit Britain. This article takes the unorthodox approach of focusing on legal and intellectual history rather than British constitutional law, because in this way one obtains a better understanding of the present British constitutional framework in the context of Europe. The discussion is from a continental European viewpoint and through the eyes of a private and commercial lawyer. The completely different understanding of Britain and Europe about the nature of a constitution and the structure of a state becomes more apparent with Britain's departure from the EU, which may also influence the future national cohesion of the UK itself, particularly the relationship between England and Scotland after Brexit.

“European” Originality in Copyright Law in the English Case of THJ Systems Ltd. v. Sheridan

“…It is debatable to what extent the EU approach to originality that the CJEU sets out is really a true representative of the originality conception of Continental European author's rights systems; it is perhaps more a specific EU-law conception in its own right. 51 The supranational quality of EU law transforms the national originality tests in the author's rights systems of EU Member States as well. However, the UK is no longer a member of the EU, and, as said earlier, the EU Withdrawal Act 2018 stipulates that the Supreme Court is not bound by any retained case law of the CJEU.…”