An unprecedented political, economic, social, and legal storm was unleashed by the United Kingdom's June 2016 referendum to leave the European Union and the government's response to the vote. After decades of strengthening European integration and independence, Brexit necessitates a deep understanding of its international law implications on both sides of the English Channel in order to chart the stormy seas of negotiating and advancing beyond separation. In Complexity's Embrace, international law practitioners and academics from the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada and the United States look beyond the rhetoric of "Brexit Means Brexit" and "no agreement is better than a bad agreement" to explain the challenges that need to be addressed in the diverse fields of trade, financial services, insolvency, intellectual property, environment, and human rights. The authors in this volume articulate, with unvarnished clarity, the international law implications of Brexit, providing policy makers, commentators, the legal community, and civil society with critical information they need to participate in negotiating their future within or outside Europe. Complexity's Embrace explores the many unprecedented questions about the UK's future trading arrangements. Contributors include Thomas Cottier, Armand de Mestral, Oonagh E. Fitzgerald, David A. Gantz, Markus Gehring, Valerie Hughes, Matthias Lehmann, Eva Lein, Dorothy Livingston, Richard Macrory, Luke McDonagh, Marc Mimler, Howard P. Morris, Gabriel Moss, Helen Mountfield, Federico M. Mucciarelli, Joe Newbigin, Colm O’Cinneide, Damilola S. Olawuyi, Christoph G. Paulus, Maziar Peihani, Freedom-Kai Phillips, Stephen Tromans, Diana Wallis, and Dirk Zetzsche.

Oonagh Fitzgerald is the acting chief legal counsel and manager of the Public Law Sector, Justice Canada, comprising specialized public law advisory, policy, and international litigation functions. Previously, she served as special advisor for international law at Justice Canada, and she continues to have responsibility to promote, support, and coordinate the Department of Justice's work in the field of international law. Before that, she held public law positions as director of the International Law Section, senior counsel for regulatory reform in the Constitutional and Administrative Law Section, and counsel in the Human Rights Law Section. Before joining the Department of Justice, Oonagh was counsel at the Immigration Appeal Board, commerce officer at the Competition Bureau, and legal consultant at the Law Reform Commission of Canada.

Oonagh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Laws, Masters of Law, and a Doctorate of Juridical Science, and she is a member of the Ontario Bar. She has written two books, Understanding Charter Remedies and The Guilty Plea and Summary Justice, and a number of articles. She has taught at Carleton University Law Department, Ottawa University Law Faculty, and the International Institute for Human Rights.

Oonagh E. Fitzgerald's profile page

Eva Lein is professor at the University of Lausanne and senior research fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

Eva Lein's profile page