HC Deb 24 March 1988 vol 130 cc181-2W
Mr. Spearing

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the occasions when the United Kingdom has been party to cases at the European Court of Justice(a) as a respondent in cases initiated by the Commission of the Community, (b) as a respondent or plaintiff in respect of other member states and (c) in other cases.

Mrs. Chalker

The figures since United Kingdom accession are:

  1. (a) 23 under Article 169 of the EEC Treaty
  2. (b) 1 under Article 170 of the EEC Treaty
  3. (c) 16 under Article 173 of the EEC Treaty
  4. (a) and (c) include cases still in progress.

Details of these cases are given in the relevant chapter or annex of the six-monthly White Paper on "Developments in the European Community".

Mr. Spearing

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will state the number of rulings of the European Court of Justice which effectively determine case law in what would otherwise be within domestic jurisdiction since the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Economic Community.

Mrs. Chalker

I assume that the hon. Member's question refers to references to the European Court of Justice under article 177 of the EEC treaty. There have been 76 such references from United Kingdom courts up to the end of February 1988.

Article 177 references are concerned with the interpretation of Community law. The interpretation of Community law given by the European Court of Justice is applied by the national court in deciding the case before it.

Mr. Teddy Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what indications there have been in recent years of the increased work load of the European Court of Justice.

Mrs. Chalker

The number of cases brought before the European Court of Justice in a year has risen from 79 in 1970 to 329 in 1986. The number of cases brought in a year more than doubled from 202 in 1979 to 433 in 1985.