Sovereignty Fictions in the United Kingdom's Trade Agenda

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)
56 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This article explores how sovereignty fictions have been used to
advance different legal, political and economic aims in the articulation of
the United Kingdom’s future approach to global regulation. By mapping
the transformative shifts in sovereignty paradigms, this article highlights
the disconnect between the absolutist sovereignty popularised in the UK
government’s political rhetoric and the concept of regulatory sovereignty
that underpins the UK’s future trading strategy. To maintain its status as a
global leader in regulation and standards-setting, the UK government will
need to diffuse power and delegate autonomy through networked orders of
public and private actors. These competing sovereignty paradigms are
analysed with reference to European Union (EU) law and practice, to
highlight the opportunities and challenges for the UK as an independent
trade actor. This article concludes by evaluating how sovereignty fictions
can disrupt the objectives of the UK’s proposed ‘common law’ approach to
regulatory governance and discusses the policy interventions that may be
required to enable the UK to harness its potential as a regulatory leader.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)563-588
Number of pages26
JournalInternational and Comparative Law Quarterly
Volume71
Issue number3
Early online date25 Jul 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press for the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

Research Groups and Themes

  • LAW Brexit
  • Trade
  • Sovereignty

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Sovereignty Fictions in the United Kingdom's Trade Agenda'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this