Law... EU. Revision.

• Members

• Members of Commission are not elected.

The European Parliament.

• Citizens of each member state elects members of the EU parliament. Council needs the agreement of the EU parliament before new laws can be created.

• Members

• Elected every 5 years.

Court Of Justice.

• Role is to interpret EU law. The 15 judges in the ECJ have the power to resolve cases involving a breach of EU law or to settle disputes over the interpretation of EU laws. Decisions made in ECJ cannot be challenged in any member state.

Were parties disagree on the interpretation of a point of EU law and the case is being held under the highest national appeal court, there must be a referral to the ECJ. This is known as mandatory referral. Lower courts have discretion. They may choose either to decide the matter themselves or to seek a ruling from the ECJ. This is known as discretionary referral.

Discretionary Referrals.

• Debate whether there appropriate. Causes uncertainly in the EU law.

• Case.

• Bulmer V Bollinger

• Lord Dennings ruling on this case set out further guidelines as to when a discretionary referral should not be made;

• Where it would not be conclusive of the case and other issues of law would still need to be decided.
• Where the case has been a previous ruling on the same case.
• Where the court regards the point of EU law to be fairly unclear.
• Where the facts of the case have not yet been decided.

English courts still use these Bulmer guidelines.

The Court of First Instance.

• Court set up to reduce the workload of the ECJ. Cases brought before it have not gone though other hearings. It’s the courts role to hear cases involving;

• Disputes between those employed by the European Institutions and their employer.
• Competition Law
• Anti – Dumping Law
• Cases involving the European Coal and Steel. Community Treaty.

Court has 12 judges, who hear cases in-group of six four or three. Appeals on a point of law maybe heard in the ECJ itself. Although it’s a separate court, the CFI has a narrow role compared to that of the ECJ.

Cases in the EU.

Factortame Case.

• British Fishing Company complained Spanish fishing company taking fish. UK government responded by introducing a bill to parliament, which became the Merchant Shipping Act 1988. It stated that only new registered boats could fish in British waters. Only British boats could apply.
• Factortame was the owner of some Spanish boats, he challenged the legislation in High Court in 1990 on the grounds it was a breach of EU trade laws. The case was referred to ECJ. The ECJ ruled that the law was a breach of parliament and had to be revoked.
• Britain was fine £30 million  

Bulmer V Bollinger

• A dispute between Bollinger, a French champagne company, and Bulmer, owners of a sparkling pear wine, over the use of the word champagne.