§ Lord Stoddart of Swindonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in the light of the judgment of the German Federal Constitutional Court on the Maastricht Treaty of 1lth October 1993 which stated that the European Court of Justice was subordinate to the German High Court, they are of the opinion that judgments of the House of Lords (as the final Court of Appeal) are not subordinate to the European Court of Justice.
§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Mackay of Clashfern)The German Federal Constitutional Court did not state that the European Court of Justice was subordinate to the German Court. What it said was that, if there were substantial later amendments of the integration programme and the authority of the union to act, these would not be covered by the law approving the treaty. The court reserved the right to check whether legislation of European institutions remained within the limits of the sovereign rights granted to them. It would exercise this jurisdiction in a relationship of co-operation with the European Court of Justice.
These are matters which turn on the relationship between Community Law and the German Constitution, and as such are not relevant to the position in this country. That position is that by virtue of the European Communities Act 1972 Community law overrides conflicting domestic law and that rulings of the European Court of Justice on Community law are binding on all our national courts.