SUNDAY TRADING

HL Deb 14 July 1992 vol 539 cc17-8WA

Viscount Brentford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they accept the opinion of Lord Goff of Chieveley delivered on 25th June 1992 in judgment in the Kirklees case that "the general prohibition against Sunday trading is still the law"; and whether they will give a clear signal that the law must be obeyed until Parliament decides it should be changed.

Earl Ferrers

The Government are aware of the speech delivered by the noble and learned Lord. The issue in the proceedings was whether a local authority should be required to give a cross undertaking in damages in circumstances where it is seeking to enforce the law by way of an interim injunction. The House of Lords did not decide the question whether the law on Sunday trading in the Shops Act 1950 is compatible with the Treaty of Rome. The European Court of Justice has yet to give its judgment on that central issue.