Beyond Brexit: EU-UK Policing, Security, and Data Sharing

Final paper to be published in Eleni Kosta & Franziska Boehm (eds), The Law Enforcement Directive: A Commentary (Oxford University Press)(Forthcoming)

23 Pages Posted: 31 Mar 2022 Last revised: 2 Nov 2022

See all articles by Nora Ni Loideain

Nora Ni Loideain

Information Law & Policy Centre; Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge; Faculty of Humanities

Date Written: February 17, 2022

Abstract

The EU made legal history in its unprecedented step to grant adequacy decisions under both the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the EU Law Enforcement Directive (LED) to the UK. Of course, although the UK is now a third country, as a former EU Member State it is still considered part of the ‘European privacy family’. However, subsequent developments suggest that major divergences may be on the cards with respect to the relationship of the UK legal order with the EU and ECHR legal systems and the UK’s alignment with both concerning the protection of personal data.

This paper identifies and examines the EU, UK, and international legal frameworks governing data sharing for law enforcement and security purposes established as a result of the UK's exit from the EU.The analysis discusses the overall negotiations process underpinning Brexit and examines the key resulting regimes, including the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and the EU-UK data adequacy agreements granted under the GDPR and the LED.

The paper concludes with some critical analysis and reflections on the above frameworks, with particular regard to the implications for the protection of EU fundamental rights, current compliance issues with EU law and Article 8 ECHR posed by the UK Investigtory Powers Act 2016, and how proposed reforms to the UK's Human Rights Act risk jeopardising the TCA and both EU-UK Adequacy Decisions.

Keywords: Brexit, data protection, data adequacy, law enforcement, GDPR, TCA, LED, EU law, EU fundamental rights, ECHR, right to privacy

JEL Classification: C80, D80, H56,

Suggested Citation

Ni Loideain, Nora, Beyond Brexit: EU-UK Policing, Security, and Data Sharing (February 17, 2022). Final paper to be published in Eleni Kosta & Franziska Boehm (eds), The Law Enforcement Directive: A Commentary (Oxford University Press)(Forthcoming), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4037322 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4037322

Nora Ni Loideain (Contact Author)

Information Law & Policy Centre ( email )

Charles Clore House
17 Russell Square
London, WC1B 5DR
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://ials.sas.ac.uk/about/about-us/people/nóra-ni-loideain

Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge ( email )

Trinity Ln
Cambridge, CB2 1TN
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/people/profile/nora-ni-loideain

Faculty of Humanities ( email )

PO Box 524
Auckland Park
Johannesburg, Gauteng 2006
South Africa

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