This chapter discusses the techniques and problems of analysing the structure of statutes. It describes how statutes are set out, what particular catch phrases mean, and how to make sense of the opaque language often used. It covers drafting styles and practices; the problems of drafting statutes in English law, comprehensibility, and awareness of how the courts are likely to interpret them; examples of drafting practices and how to approach them; techniques for amending earlier statutes, either wholesale or in section; other points on drafting; European legislative drafting; and the style adopted for EU legislation and the problems of ensuring compatibility.
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The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offer the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, bullet-pointed answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary and illustrative diagrams and flowcharts. This chapter presents sample exam questions along with examiner’s tips, answer plans, and suggested answers about the supremacy of EU law and its reception in Member States. Both the legal arguments for supremacy and the political logic are often considered in establishing the reasoning for EU law supremacy. The first question concentrates on the reasons for EU law supremacy from the point of view of the Union and in the view of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU (or also abbreviated CoJ)). A general question about the exit process of a state by a Member State in the light of Brexit is included.
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Stuart Bell, Donald McGillivray, Ole W. Pedersen, Emma Lees, and Elen Stokes
This chapter provides a brief overview of how the EU shapes UK environmental law and policy. It begins by providing an introductory guide to EU law, outlining the key institutions of the EU, the different sources of EU law, and how EU law is made. The chapter then proceeds to look at the more substantive elements of EU law as they affect environmental protection, starting with the policy and constitutional bases for EU environmental law, and gives a flavour of the scope of EU environmental legislation, before considering the scope for national standards to exceed those set at EU level or to disrupt trade between the Member States. This is followed by a discussion of the challenges faced in making EU environmental law work, and then with some thoughts on the impact of Brexit and how this may shape UK environmental law.
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This chapter explains the two main sources of criminal law in the UK: legislation, that is, Acts of Parliament (or statutes), and case law. It discusses the process by which Acts of Parliament come into existence; European Union legislation and the European Convention on Human Rights; criminal courts in which cases are heard and the systems of law reporting; how to find legislation and case law using various online resources; and how to find the criminal law of overseas jurisdictions.
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Since 1973, the English legal system has been radically affected by what is now called ‘EU law’. Following the Brexit referendum the UK has now left the EU but there remains a legacy of nearly fifty years of EU-related legislation and case law to contend with. The solution has been to keep a large amount of that EU-derived law, termed ‘Retained Law’, as if it had been created by our Parliament and courts in the first place. The mechanism for dealing with how that has been achieved, and the implication for the future, is discussed here.
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Nigel Foster
Foster on EU Law offers an account of the institutions and procedures of the EU legal system as well as focused analysis of key substantive areas, including free movement of goods; free movement of persons; citizenship; and competition law, including state aids. This clear structure provides a solid foundation in the mechanisms and applications of EU law. The book considers the supremacy of EU law in relation to ordinary domestic law, member state constitutional law, and international law, including UN Resolutions. It includes a consideration of EU law and Germany and France, as well as a briefer look at a number of other member states and contains discussion of human rights, in particular the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the moves of the EU to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights. The material on remedies in Chapter 6 has been rearranged to aid presentation and understanding. It follows the further developments of Art 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and has rearranged the material on the free movement of persons to take account of the judgments of the Court of Justice. The relationship between the UK and the EU and Brexit are dealt with in a new, dedicated chapter.
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This chapter explains the process and significance of the UK’s membership of the EU and of its subsequent departure from the EU. The chapter sets out the authorities underpinning the supremacy of EU law, accepted and established prior to the UK’s accession. It then explores cases—from the early 1970s to the present day—which consider the ways in which EU membership has impacted on Parliament’s sovereignty. Following this, the chapter explores the legal and political landscape of the UK’s departure from the EU. It considers the Brexit process, the establishment of a stable legal system in the UK post-Brexit, looking in particular at the creation of retained EU law as provided for by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020, and the future relationship between the UK and the UK, as established by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
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Since 1973, the English legal system has been radically affected by what is now called ‘EU law’. EU law takes precedence over all national laws, including legislation. This chapter explains the basic structure and relevance of EU institutions, legislation, and case law, and how these affect the methods of legal analysis we employ. The discussions cover the sources of EU law; the institutions of the EU and their increasingly important role in our law-making; the main analytical techniques employed by European lawyers; and the legal method employed in the Court of Justice of the European Union and the effect of EU law on the drafting and interpretation of UK Legislation.
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Sir William Wade and Christopher Forsyth
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the definition of administrative law. It then turns to the characteristics of the law, covering the legal systems of Britain and Continental Europe, EU law, European human rights, the development of administrative law in England, and the failure of administrative law to keep pace with the expanding powers of the state in the twentieth century.
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This chapter discusses the law on registered designs. It covers the requirements for the grant of a registered design; grounds for refusal of registration; ownership of a registered design; rights of the owner and infringement; grounds on which a design may be declared invalid; duration of the registered design right; spare parts; international commercial exploitation; and EU law on registered design.
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Justine Pila and Paul L.C. Torremans
This chapter offers an outlook to the future of IP at the European level. The EU and its legal instruments primarily approach IP from a utilitarian free market perspective and that applies also to the way they look at the future. The chapter focuses primarily on that angle when it looks at how the European IP system could and should function in the future and which direction it is taking. In a sense it offers an opportunity for reflection and attempts to enhance the reader's insight in and understanding of IP by wrapping the critical analysis of its technical rules up in a more theoretical analysis.
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Justine Pila and Paul L.C. Torremans
This chapter focuses on EU law on unfair competition. Unfair competition law is concerned with fair play in commerce. It normally acts in tandem with its more powerful, but much more narrowly focused, counterpart competition law. Together they are generally regarded as necessary in order to steer competition along an orderly course. And they thereby contribute to promoting an efficient market system that serves the interests of all participants. While there is no single EU instrument that deals with unfair competition law as a whole, there is a significant level of EU legislative intervention in relation to comparative and misleading advertising and in relation to unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices; each of these are discussed in detail.
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Justine Pila and Paul L.C. Torremans
This chapter considers design law in the EU. Designs have something to do with shape and they are closely linked with the concept of a trade mark for a three-dimensional shape. Under the Community Designs Regulation, a single registered design right is granted in essence and this is done for the whole of the EU. That system is administered by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), which also administers the Community trade mark (Article 2 of the Regulation). As with the Community trade mark, the Community design right has a unitary character (Article 1(3) of the Regulation). The remainder of the chapter discusses the requirements for the grant of a registered design; grounds for refusal of registration; rights of the owner and infringement; ownership of and entitlement to a registered design; grounds for invalidity of a registered design; duration of the registered design right; and international commercial exploitation of registered designs.
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This chapter explains the process and significance of the UK’s membership in the EU and sets out the authorities underpinning the supremacy of EU law, accepted and established prior to the UK’s accession. It then explores cases—from the early 1970s to the present day—which consider the ways in which EU membership has impacted on Parliament’s sovereignty. Following this, the chapter explores the legal and political landscape of the UK’s departure from the EU. It considers the process through which Brexit is happening and the manner in which the constitution will provide the foundation for a working relationship with the EU in the future and establish a stable legal system in the UK post-Brexit, looking particularly at the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020.
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Much of the substance of UK environmental law has been derived from EU environmental law. This chapter is an introduction to some of the major themes in EU environmental law. The first section outlines aspects of EU legal culture and considers different approaches to defining EU environmental law. The following sections examine four major themes of EU environmental law. The first theme is competence, which concerns the nature of the EU’s authority to act in relation to environmental matters. The second theme is implementation and enforcement. The third theme is the ability of Member States to take unilateral environmental protection action. Finally, the last theme is the legitimacy and accountability of EU governance.
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This chapter first explains the meaning of law. It then discusses the historical development and characteristics of English law, and the different types of law (public law, private law, criminal law, and civil law). Laws are rules and regulations which govern the activities of persons within a country. In England and Wales, laws are composed of three main elements: legislation which is created through Parliament; common law; and, until the UK leaves the EU, directly enforceable EU law. This chapter also considers the terminology used for criminal prosecutions and civil actions, and outlines the legal profession in England and Wales.
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Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. . Questions, discussion points and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter focuses on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which the UK signed in 1950. The UK’s signing of the Convention entailed the country’s acceptance of the obligation to ‘secure for everyone within [its] jurisdiction the rights and freedoms in Section 1 of this Convention’. Provisions of the Convention, however, were not and are still not applied directly by the UK courts. The Convention remains part of international law, which is not directly enforceable in UK courts. The chapter establishes the reasons for enacting the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), which brought the essence of the rights and freedoms in the ECHR into UK law in specific ways. There is a section on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
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This chapter examines the supremacy of EU law from both the point of view of the Union, as understood by the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the point of view of member states. A consensus seems to be emerging from the national and constitutional courts that EU law supremacy is accepted only insofar as it does not infringe the individual rights protection of the national constitutions, in which case the constitutional courts will exercise their reserved rights over national constitutions to uphold them over inconsistent EU law or to review EU law in light of their own constitutions. The changing position of the UK and the EU is also considered including the Brexit referendum result and possible consequences of that.
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The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offer the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, bullet-pointed answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and illustrative diagrams and flowcharts. This chapter presents sample exam questions along with examiner’s tips, answer plans, and suggested answers about EU law on sex discrimination and equality. The questions have been divided into a general question on the inclusion of sex discrimination provision in the first place; problem questions on aspects of equal pay and equal treatment; an essay question on a specific development in this area of law, which considers the overlapping area of pay and pensions and a problem on pregnancy-related matters; and an essay question on the expansion of areas protected by equality legislation.
Chapter
T C Hartley
An indirect challenge to the validity of an act is a challenge made in the course of proceedings not instituted for that purpose. The purpose of an indirect challenge is to require the court to decide the case on the basis that the act in question is invalid. This chapter first discusses the treaty provisions dealing with indirect challenge. It then addresses the following questions: What acts may be challenged? Who may make the challenge? In what proceedings may the challenge be made? On what grounds may the challenge be made? The chapter also considers the effect of a successful challenge and non-existent acts.
