Potential impact of Brexit on commercial contracts

We still do not really know what will happen after the UK voted to leave the EU last year. However, we have put together some thoughts on the impact this might have on commercial contracts which we hope might be useful.

One key thing to remember is that the Referendum actually has no legal effect. However, the Prime Minister seems to feel honour bound to comply with the outcome of the Referendum and has sought to give effect to the result. Even though the UK has now formally given notice of its decision to leave under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the UK still has two more years to negotiate the terms of its exit and future relationship with the remainder of the EU. In the meantime the UK still remains an EU member. The timing on triggering Article 50 means the UK looks set to leave the EU by Summer 2019.

There will therefore be no change in the short-term from a legal point of view and the overall impact on commercial contracts will probably be very little, at least for the foreseeable future.  So there is no immediate need to panic as far as commercial contracts are concerned.

However, some aspects of commercial contracts that may be relevant to consider are set out below:

We will provide further comments once the implications of Brexit in relation to commercial contracts become clearer but in the meantime, if you would like any further information or advice, please contact us at info@TRGlaw.com.

30th March 2017

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