Thread by @AdamWagner1

🚨First set of amendments to the January lockdown regulations

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021

66th Covid-19 criminal law change since Feb 2020

legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/53/p…

A number of relatively minor amendments... basically mistakes/oversights cleaning up from the 6 January lockdown (see thread)

https://twitter.com/AdamWagner1/status/1346513665193873412

Summary:
- No more Christmas bubbles (obvs)
- Now clear you can leave home to go to a library for digital access
- Sports venues can open for elite sport competition (!)
- Marriage now explicitly covers equal marriage (!)
- Canteens in colleges or student halls can open

One interesting change is that "or competition" has been added to 12(1)(c) of the Tier 4 regulations. This may sound minor but it highlights that the current law does not allow sports grounds to open for competition, just training!

And since these regulations come into force tomorrow, 20 January, that means, technically, the sports grounds opening today for elite sportspersons can only do so for training, not competition...

😬

It also means that all sports grounds which have been opened for elite sports competition since 6 January have done so illegally. I think.

Almost as if drafting complex criminal laws in secret and putting them to a vote in Parliament *after* they come into force and without any scrutiny at all might not be the best way of doing things

I don't think the addition of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 means that before this change same sex marriage was prohibited as the 2013 Act allowed for same sex marriages under the 1949 Act which is included in the regs. Thoughts welcome though

Top barristering from Gary Grant who caught this on 6 January

https://twitter.com/garygrant1971/status/1346796007955296256?s=20

I had a feeling there was something amiss but didn't quite see it as Gary did

https://twitter.com/AdamWagner1/status/1349772849263865857?s=20

Also, my regular moan - this is not a helpful way of publishing legislation which comes into force hours after you publish it

Please can we have a track changes version as has been the case in Wales throughout the pandemic

#BonfireOfTheOrs

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