§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Attorney-General if he will state the number of occasions since 1 January 1973 when each category of United Kingdom court has applied for, or received, guidance from the Council of the European Communities concerning interpretation or execution of legislation of that Community.
§ The Attorney-GeneralI assume that the hon. Member intends to refer to requests made by United Kingdom courts to the Court of Justice of the European Communities for preliminary rulings under article 177 of the treaty of Rome. In the period from 1 January 1973 until the end of February 1988, the House of Lords made six such requests, the Court of Appeal six, and all other courts and tribunals a total of 64. It is not possible to provide figures separately for the courts and tribunals whose references are included in the latter figure.