Thread by @bricksilk

Debate on the lawfulness of the #Coronavirus Regulations started on the day they were made daqc.co.uk/2020/03/26/can…. Subsequent contributions have been of very high quality … /1

… ranging from @jeff_a_king (who is satisfied the Regs are lawful ukconstitutionallaw.org/2020/04/01/jef…) to @TomRHickman and colleagues (coronavirus.blackstonechambers.com/coronavirus-an…, paras 31-46) and @RobertCraig3 (ukhumanrightsblog.com/2020/04/06/loc…) who in strong pieces posted today amplify my doubts. /2

Hickman and I consider that a "plausible" defence of the legal basis for the Regulations could be mounted before a sympathetic court, while Craig suggests that they might be declared invalid with prospective effect, giving Parliament a chance to rectify the situation. /3

Perhaps we might all agree that it would have been possible, and prudent, to provide a secure statutory basis for the lockdown in the #CoronavirusAct2020, rather than rely on an earlier Act whose provisions, to put it charitably, have to be stretched to make them fit. /4 ends

PS the "colleagues" referred to are @EmmaDixon_EU
and @rachelalice13.

A further critical piece here from Guy Sandhurst (ne Mansfield) QC and Anthony Speaight QC of the Society of Conservative Lawyers: …3-4e55-8088-a1c763d8c9d1.usrfiles.com/ugd/e1a359_111… @uk_aji