Northern Ireland Protocol Bill

Northern Ireland Protocol Bill 2022–23
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title Make provision about the effect in domestic law of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland in the EU withdrawal agreement, about other domestic law in subject areas dealt with by the Protocol and for connected purposes.
Citation	Bill 12 2022–23
Legislative history
Introduced by	Liz Truss
First reading	13 June 2022
Second reading	27 June 2022
Third reading	20 July 2022
Member(s) in charge	Lord Ahmad
First reading	21 July 2022
Second reading	11 October 2022
Third reading	Not read a third time
Summary
Bill 12 of 2022–23.
Status: Withdrawn

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill 2022–23 was a proposed Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sought to unilaterally override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP). The NIP is the part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement that governs some aspects of trade in goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, as well as between Northern Ireland and the European Union.^[1] The bill was introduced to address what the government call 'unacceptable barriers to trade' that the protocol introduced within the UK internal market.^[2] The bill was criticised by most members of the Northern Ireland Assembly (though supported by some), by the European Commission, and by member states of the European Union. It was characterised in the UK and abroad as a breach of international law.

On 27 February 2023, the UK government announced its intent to halt Parliamentary progress on the Bill and allow it to lapse at the end of the current session.^[3]