A legal challenge to the UK-Morocco trade agreement will be heard in the High Court from Wednesday 5 October
.
The Western Sahara Campaign UK (WSCUK) argues that the UK-Morocco Association Agreement (UKMAA) is unlawful because it extends to goods originating from Western Sahara, which places the Department for International Trade and the UK Treasury in breach of their obligations under international law.
WSCUK, represented by law firm Leigh Day, says a trade agreement cannot be concluded by Kingdom of Morocco on behalf of Western Sahara because Morocco does not have the right to do so. Their case relies on the fact that the status of Western Sahara under international law is one of a Non-Self-Governing territory (as designated by the UN), not sovereign land of Morocco.
The agreement broadly mirrors the EU-Morocco Association Agreement. In 2019 the UK High Court confirmed the ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union which recognised that a previous version of the EU agreement could not be applied to the territory of Western Sahara, nor could Morocco be understood to exercise jurisdiction over the territory, as this would contravene the principle of self-determination and the rule of international law that a treaty may not impose rights or obligations on a third party without that party’s consent.
The legal challenge due to be heard at this three-day hearing specifically relates to the Customs Tariff (Preferential Trade Arrangements) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 and the Customs (Tariff Quotas) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. The 2020 Regulations are statutory instruments made by the Treasury under Section 9 of the Taxation (Cross-Border) Trade Act 2018 and brought into force the Morocco Preferential Tariff and the Morocco Origin Reference Document, which extend the preferential rate of import duty to goods from Western Sahara and give effect to the UKMAA.
WSCUK says the UKMAA applies only to goods lawfully in the control of Morocco, which those originating in Western Sahara are not.
John Gurr of Western Sahara Campaign UK said:
“The UK government has not sought the consent of the Saharawi people to exploit their resources. This agreement serves the interests of the Moroccan occupation; granting trade preferences to goods produced under occupation makes the UK complicit in the suffering of the Saharawi people.”
Leigh Day lawyer Erin Alcock said:
“This is an important case as it is asking the court to consider the legality of a post-Brexit trade agreement, in circumstances where there is serious concern the signatories to that agreement, including the UK Government, have not acted in accordance with their obligations under international law.”
Victoria Wakefield QC of Brick Court Chambers and Conor McCarthy of Monckton Chambers are instructed in this matter.
The Ghana Tuna Association (GTA), and the Ghana Industrial Trawlers Association, both representing the Joint…
Renewed tension is mounting in Manso Tontokrom, a mining community in the Amansie South District…
BY: DANIEL ASARE Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has touted the country’s recovery from…
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah (MP), has granted an…
Mr. Kennedy Agyapong Mr. Kennedy Agyapong, a presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)…
Mr. Kwesi Pratt, Jnr, a member of the Coordinating Committee of the Pan African Progressive…
View Comments
I have been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or blog posts on this
sort of space . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this site.
Studying this information So i am satisfied to exhibit that
I've a very good uncanny feeling I came upon exactly what I
needed. I so much for sure will make certain to don?t disregard this site and provides
it a glance regularly.
Pretty! This was an incredibly wonderful article. Thank you
for supplying this info.
It is appropriate time to make some plans for the future and it's time to be
happy. I have read this post and if I could I
desire to suggest you few interesting things or suggestions.
Maybe you can write next articles referring to
this article. I want to read even more things about it!
My coder is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP.
I have always disliked the idea because of the costs.
But he's tryiong none the less. I've been using WordPress on a number of websites for about a year and am
nervous about switching to another platform. I have heard good things about blogengine.net.
Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into
it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
If you would like to obtain much from this piece of writing then you have to apply these techniques to your
won blog.
It's a pity you don't have a donate button! I'd most certainly donate to this outstanding blog!
I guess for now i'll settle for book-marking and adding
your RSS feed to my Google account. I look
forward to fresh updates and will talk about this blog with my Facebook group.
Chat soon!
Do you have a spam problem on this site; I also am a blogger,
and I was wondering your situation; we have created some nice
practices and we are looking to exchange solutions with others, why not shoot me an e-mail if interested.
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this,
like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to
drive the message home a little bit, but other than that, this is wonderful blog.
A great read. I'll certainly be back.
Greetings from Colorado! I'm bored to tears at work so I decided to check out your
blog on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the info you present here and can't wait to take a look
when I get home. I'm surprised at how quick your blog loaded on my phone ..
I'm not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, amazing site!
I'm impressed, I have to admit. Rarely do I come across a blog that's
equally educative and interesting, and without
a doubt, you have hit the nail on the head. The issue is
an issue that too few folks are speaking intelligently about.
Now i'm very happy I came across this in my hunt for
something regarding this.