Getting lost in the EU maze?
Emily Allbon Law Librarian
What are the key types of EU material?
Cases Directives Regulations Treaties Recommendations Opinions
Held in Official Journal – journal of the record of the EU
Understanding EU citations C-112/84 H umblot v D ir ecteur des Ser vices F iscaux [1985] ECR 1367
ECJcase/ year added to Court’s register (if old Court of first Instance would be T – Remember now General Court). Sometimes prior to 1989 = no prefix letter Name of case Year report of decision was published Abbreviated title of the series of reports (European Court Reps) Section of the report (I) it’ll be (II) for CFI Page number 1367 where report starts
Finding EU Case Law
In the library (hard copy) in the ECR or CMLR Lots of choice to find online as the data on law databases like Lexis and Westlaw drawn from CELEX – the official full-text database of the EU. Online via Curia - http:/ / curia.europa.eu/ (1997 onwards)
Search via Case No (e.g. C-408/ 91), party name or date of judgment.
Use Eur-Lex for case law from 1954 onwards http:/ / eur-lex.europa.eu/ en/ index.htm Or the EU tabs on either Lexis or Westlaw
Up for a demo?
Let’s have a look for
a few cases by: Citation – [1974]ECR 491 Party name – Dimotiki Etairia Case/ Document No – 29/ 69
EUÂ Legislation Pr imar y = Treaty provisions that establish the legal framework of the EU. Agreed upon by each of the MS. Find them via Eur-Lex: http:/ / eur-lex.europa.eu/ en/ treaties/ index.htm ď ˝
Secondar y = Decisions, Directives and Regulations
EU legislation Pr imar y
Secondar y
Treaty provisions that establish the legal framework of the EU. Agreed upon by each of the MS.
•Decisions, •Directives and •Regulations •Recommendations and opinions
Find them via Eur-Lex: http:/ / eur-lex.europa.eu/ en/ treaties/ index.htm
How do these differ?
Regulations
Directives
apply directly in all MS – binding and does not need to be implemented separately by national law to come into force. Do not apply directly to all MS. Need to be implemented separately by governments into national law. Is legally binding and will normally be accompanied by implementation instructions and proposed timetable (implementation usually via SI in UK and timeframe of 2 or 3 yrs)
Decisions
Different in that they usually address specific individuals, organisations (companies) or national governments. Binding.
How can we find EU legislation?
Published in OJ‘L’ series Access via Eur -L ex for full-text of legislation Pr eL ex: to trace the progress of legislative proposals from point at which they are adopted by Commission and sent on to Council and Parliament. The L egislative Obser vator y of the European Parliament does a similar thing, but from 1994. Or…L exis or Westlaw
Finding directives…
Council Directive 2000/ 78/ EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, OJL 303
Citation includes:
Name of originator institution Form (e.g. Directive) Year enacted Number Name of treaty which acts as basis for Directive Date passed Issue, date, page of publication in the OJ‘L’ series
Be careful!
Prior to 1999, legislative acts had unique citations. Now, confusingly, it is possible for a Decision and a Directive to have the same number Also note that two-digit year used pre-1999 They can often be known colloquially e.g. ‘Wor k ing time dir ective’ or ‘Company law dir ective’ but not always searchable on this info – need longer title.
Examples of national implementation
The Working Time Regulations 1998 http:/ / www.legislation.gov.uk/ uksi/ 1998/ 1833/ contents/ made The Regulations implement Council Directive 93/ 104/ EC < http:/ / www.opsi.gov.uk/ legislation/ european/ directive/ 1993/ 0104 > concerning certain aspects of the organization of working time (O.J. No. L307, 13.12.93, p.18) and provisions concerning working time in Council Directive 94/ 33/ EC< http:/ / www.opsi.gov.uk/ legislation/ european/ directive/ 1994/ 0033 > on the protection of young people at work (O.J. No. L216, 20.8.94, p.12). The Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 http:/ / www.legislation.gov.uk/ uksi/ 2003/ 2498/ contents/ made these Regulations implement Directive 2001/ 29/ EC < http:/ / www.opsi.gov.uk/ legislation/ european/ directive/ 2001/ 0029 > of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22nd May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society (O.J. No L167, 22.6.2001, p.10)
How do we trace national implementing measures of directives?
By using Eur-Lex or Westlaw – Lexis doesn’t contain this info Eur-Lex – find directive – click on Bibliographic notice – scroll to ‘Display the national implementing provisions’ and find MNE link (mesures nationale d’execution) Westlaw – find directive – click on national measures
See useful (2010) House of Commons research paper: How much legislation comes from Europe? (10/ 62) http:/ / www.parliament.uk/ briefingpapers/ commons/ lib/ resear
How do I find amendments to legislation?
Eur -L ex: find the document, choose Bibliogr aphic N otice. Find details of amendments under Relationship betw een documents. Westlaw : EU tab – Related infor mation - M odifications
Demo
Let’s have a look for some more legislation: Council D ir ective 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concer ning integr ated pollut ion pr evention and contr ol
Key websites
Eur-lex http:/ / eur-lex.europa.eu/ en/ index.htm (cases 1954, leg 1951) Curia http:/ / curia.europa.eu/ jurisp/ cgi-bin/ form.pl?lang=en (Cases 1953 - ) LexisLibrary (ECJcases 1954 – Legislation 1951 -) Westlaw (ECJcases 1954 – Legislation 1952 -) Pre-Lex http:/ / ec.europa.eu/ prelex/ apcnet.cfm?CL=en or Legislative Observatory of EU http:/ / www.europarl.europa.eu/ oeil/ index.jsp Europa Legislation pages: http:/ / europa.eu/ documentation/ legislation/ index_en.htm (includes link to summaries of EU laws) Treaty of Lisbon at a glance http:/ / europa.eu/ lisbon_treaty/ glance/ index_en.htm
Other sources of interest
Key jour nals: Common Market Law Review, European Law Journal, European Law Review, Yearbook of European Law, European Public Law
Guide from UWE http:/ / www1.uwe.ac.uk/ library/ resources/ law/ guides/ subject %20guides/ Guide%20to%20European%20Sources.pdf Guide from IALS http:/ / ials.sas.ac.uk/ library/ guides/ research/ res_eu.htm ABC guide to European Union law http:/ / europa.eu/ documentation/ legislation/ pdf/ oa8107147_en.pdf
Referencing EU material
Cases: the official citation would be that of the ECR e.g.
No need to give citations from all other reports too
Use OSCOLA! New version (4th ed) start at p. 28 http:/ / www.law.ox.ac.uk/ publications/ oscola.php