The Court of Justice

The European Court of Justice gave a boost to disability rights on 31 January after ruling in favour of Sharon Coleman, a legal secretary in London who suffered “discrimination by association”. This first legal victory could give new rights to millions of carers living in Europe.
According to Poiares Maduro, the advocate general at the European Court of Justice, Sara Coleman, a legal secretary in London, suffered “discrimination by association” when she was (...)

On the 8 November 2007, the Court of First Instance (see the attached document) annulled the Commission’s denial to reveal the identities of all participants at a meeting involving representatives from the Commission (namely DG Internal Market and Services ), the UK Department of Trade and Industry, and the Confederation des Brasseurs du Marche Commun. The sentence will be recalled by a number of EU advocates as a benchmark towards greater transparency.
Background
In May 1992, the Bavarian (...)

In the case C444/05 Stamatelakis, the European Court of Justice rules that excluding a priori to reimburse treatments abroad is contrary to Community law.
The case
Dimitrios Stamatelakis, a Greek nationale, sought medical care in a private hospital in the UK. He was denied reimbursement from his home social security institution on the ground that Greek law does not reimburse treatments in private hospitals abrod if the patient is over 14 years of age. Mr Stamatelakis’ relatives argue that (...)

The European Court of Justice has given a preliminary ruling (C84/06) on the application of community law to anthroposophic medicinal products.
The Court of Justice of the Netherlands refered to the European Court of Justice to understand if the Directive on medicinal products for human use (2001/83) applies to anthroposophic medicinal products with regard to registration and authorisation.
The issue at stake is to decide whether there is scope for further national harmonisation or if the (...)

The European Commission has brought before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) a case against the UK for failure to correctly implement the European Working Time Directive.
The UK implemented the Directive into national law via the Working Time Regulations 1998 and 1999 (Regulations). However, the Commission claims that UK has not fulfilled its obligations under Community law on 2 grounds.
Application of the Derogation in Article 17(1)
Article 17(1) of the Directive allows Member States to (...)

The European Court of Justice has ruled that citizens purchasing alcohol cannot avail of cheaper excise duties in another Member State and have to pay the taxes of their home country.
The Joustra case
Some 70 private individuals formed a wine club in the Netherlands. On behalf of this club, Mr Joustra orders wine in France for his own use and that of the other member of the club. The wine is transported to the Netherlands by a Dutch transport company and delivered to his home. Mr Joustra (...)

On the 12 September 2006, the European Court of Justice delivered an opinion related to Labelling and presentation of foodstuffs. It concluded that responsibility on the labelling and presentation is held by all actors involved in the manufacturing and distribution processes.
The Court had to assess who is responsible for the particulars on the label of a pre-packaged foodstuff and who is therefore liable if the particulars are inaccurate.
The Italian Office of the Justice of the Peace of (...)

The European Court of Justice has condemned three Member States for not complying with the recognition of professional qualifications Directive (2001/19/EC).
France, Germany and Austria did not transpose on time the directive on the recognition of professional qualifications concerning the professions of nurse responsible for general care, dental practitioner, veterinary surgeon, midwife, architect, pharmacist and doctor in the requested period, according to the European Commission and the (...)

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that national health services must refund hospital treatments provided in another member state if patients waited longer than medically acceptable.
The ECJ addressed the case of Yvonne Watt, a British national resident, who needed a hip surgery. Having to wait one year to undergo the surgery, Ms Watt requested a E 112 scheme, which is submitted to prior authorisation from the Primary Care Trust in the UK. Her request was refused on the ground (...)

*UPDATE: On 5 June 2007 the European Court of Justice ruled that the Swedish monopoly is a disproportionate measure to attain the objective of limiting alcohol consumption in general and limiting underage drinking. The ECJ concluded that the monopoly was against the EU principle of free movement of goods, and that it was therefore not compatible with EU law.
Despite that judgement, Maria Larsson, Swedish public health minister, confirmed that the alcohol monopoly will stay put and that the (...)