Complexity's Embrace

The International Law Implications of Brexit

An unprecedented political, economic, social, and legal storm was unleashed by the United Kingdom’s June 2016 referendum to leave the European Union and the government’s response to the vote. After decades of strengthening European integration and independence, Brexit necessitates a deep understanding of its international law implications on both sides of the English Channel in order to chart the stormy seas of negotiating and advancing beyond separation. In Complexity’s Embrace, international law practitioners and academics from the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada and the United States look beyond the rhetoric of “Brexit Means Brexit” and “no agreement is better than a bad agreement” to explain the challenges that need to be addressed in the diverse fields of trade, financial services, insolvency, intellectual property, environment, and human rights. The authors in this volume articulate, with unvarnished clarity, the international law implications of Brexit, providing policy makers, commentators, the legal community, and civil society with critical information they need to participate in negotiating their future within or outside Europe. Complexity’s Embrace explores the many unprecedented questions about the UK’s future trading arrangements.