Interpretation and effect of retained EU law Role of UK Courts
The EUWA provided that UK domestic courts should remain bound by relevant CJEU judgments made on or before 31 December 2020. This provided legal certainty upon the UK’s exit from the EU and prevented the risk of considerable uncertainty for business over how EU law would operate.
	This has however contributed to establishing legal provisions with different rules of interpretation, meaning that EU case law has continued to influence the interpretation and application of REUL in the UK after the UK’s exit from the EU.
	The Government considers that the UK courts should have greater freedom to develop case law on REUL that remains in force in ways that are not unduly constrained by the continuing influence of previous EU case law. This Act addresses this by facilitating domestic courts departing from retained EU case law.
	This Act also gives the Attorney General and other Law Officers in the UK and devolved administrations the power to intervene in and refer cases to the higher courts, so that they may be invited to exercise their new discretion to depart from retained EU case law.
	In practice, interventions and references may not always lead to courts departing from retained case law. However, they will ensure that courts give full consideration to the appropriate influence of retained case law in the continuing development of domestic case law.