Can an English citizen move the Court of Justice of European Communities?
This Court of European Communities was set up under the Treaty of Rome of 1957, by which the European Community was established. The Court sits in Luxembourg and consists of judges appointed by all 15 of the Member States (so there is one British judge). The Court has been made part of the English legal system by virtue of the European Communities Act 1972, section 3 of which states as follows “For the purposes of all legal proceedings any question as to the meaning or effect of any of the Treaties, or as to the validity, meaning or effect of any Community instrument, shall be treated as a question of law (and, if not referred to the European court, be for determination as such in accordance with the principles laid down by and any relevant decision of the European Court).” Its intervention can arise in two ways under Article 177 of the Treaty of Rome. Firstly, “The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings concerning…the interpretation of this Treaty … w
