How are UK laws made?

Jeremy White, Barrister at Pump Court Tax Chambers, explains how UK customs law is actually made — essential grounding for anyone applying or challenging UK customs rules after Brexit.

Topics covered:

• The four sources of UK customs law: primary legislation (Acts of Parliament), statutory instruments, public notices, and reference documents
• How Acts of Parliament are made: consultation, bill teams, and the readings/committee/report stages, illustrated with the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018
• The affirmative and negative resolution procedures for statutory instruments
• The legal validity of statutory instruments and reference documents, including the principle against sub-delegation
• A real case where the UK customs tariff was left without valid legal force because an underlying statutory instrument was never updated
• Other sources of UK law: bylaws and case law, and how the role of EU/CJEU case law has changed since Brexit
• Shared legal principles between UK and EU law, such as proportionality and fairness in taxation
• How UK statutory interpretation has moved from the strict "golden rule" towards a more purposive, EU-influenced approach

For a broader overview of the topic, please watch the full recording. The slides are available in the Resources section.

Please note that this summary was generated using AI, based on the recording and available slides.