Brexit’s NI Protocol is lawful but conflicts with Acts of Union, judge rules

Brexit’s Irish Sea border conflicts with legislation that created the United Kingdom but is still lawful, a judge in Belfast has ruled.Two legal challenges against the lawfulness of the Northern Ireland Protocol were dismissed by High Court judge Mr Justice Colton on Wednesday.He rejected arguments that the contentious trading arrangements, which have created economic barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, unlawfully breached the terms of the 1800 Acts of Union.

The judge agreed that the legislation containing the protocol did conflict with provisions in the Acts of Union that guaranteed free trade within the UK.