§ Viscount Brentfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What impact upon the effective enforcement of the Shops Act 1950 will be made by the judgment of the European Court of Justice on 28th February 1991 in cases C–312/89 and C–332/89; whether they will now issue guidance to local authorities to assist the enforcement of that Act and what conclusions they draw from the judgment
The Minister of State, Home Office (Earl Ferrers):While the cases referred to arose from the national legislation of two other member states of the European Community, in our view they tend to confirm that there is no obstacle in European Community law to the effective enforcement of the Shops Act 1950. The cases do not cause us to plan to issue guidance on that enforcement to local authorities: it is for them and their legal advisers to consider as necessary the relevance of particular case law in deciding how best to discharge their duties under the Act.