266 / 424
GAZETTE
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1995
there will be questions arising in the
, future over the recognising of foreign
degrees, diplomas and qualifications.
A solicitor should be familiar with the
jurisprudence of the European courts
in this a r e a ."
Marketing
Quite frequently, Irish solicitors are
consulted about labelling and marking
requirements both
offensively
in terms
o f products which are to be exported
from Ireland to elsewhere in the EU
and
defensively
trying to stop the
importation into Ireland o f products
from elsewhere in the EU.
Agriculture
It is surprising that in a country with
as strong an agricultural base as
Ireland that there has not been more
work for Irish solicitors in the area of
EC agricultural law.
34
Milk quotas and
headage payments have provided
some work but other areas seem to be
terra incognita.
%
Consumer Protection Law
Solicitors who do consumer protection
work ought to be very much aware of
the jurisprudence of the European
Courts as well as the measures
adopted on such issues as product
liability, product safety, advertising,
timeshares, doorstep selling,
consumer credit, unfair contract terms
and package holidays.
Contract Disputes
With the growth o f international
contracts, there is no doubt that the
R ome Convention of 1 9 80 will be of
more assistance and interest to
lawyers.
Transport
Transport is an extremely important
area o f EU law. Transport represents
7 % of the combined GDP o f the EU
which is more than agriculture. Irish
road hauliers as well as Irish aviation
and shipping companies provide work
to Irish solicitors in this area. Mo re
importantly, some Irish solicitors are
now advising international clients in
the area o f EU transport law.
242
j Intellectual Property
Patents, trademark, copyright and
| other intellectual property rights
i
cannot be seen solely in the light of
i
national law. Recent cases such as
j
Magill
clearly demonstrate that a
solicitor advising on intellectual
property cannot ignore EC
competition law.
Welfare
j
| Welfare law has been a growth area in
j
recent years and Irish solicitors who
deal with private clients should
familiarise themselves with the
jurisprudence of the European courts
as welfare law.
35
Fisheries
EC fisheries law is particularly
j
important in Ireland. Solicitors in
coastal areas should be familiar with
EC fisheries law. While there are
solicitors with excellent reputations
j
in the subject, there is still room
for others!
|
Conclusion
I There are many other opportunities
j
! for the solicitor to apply the
j
jurisprudence of the European Courts
in practices. This article has only
examined a few o f the cases.
Part II o f this article will be published
j
in the October issue o f the Gazette.
*Vincent Power is a solicitor in A&L
Goodbody, Solicitors. He practises in
the firm's EU and Competition Law
Department.
References
1. The term "European Union" or " EU" is
used in this paper to include the combined
legal regimes of the European Community,
the European Coal and Steel Community,
the European Atomic Energy Community
as well as the Treaty on European Union.
2. The term "European Courts" is used in this
article to describe the Court of Justice of
j
the European Communities ("ECJ") and the
j
Court of First Instance ("CFI").
|
3. See Van Hamme, "Human Rights and the
!
Treaty of Rome" and Power, "Human
j
Rights and the EEC" in Heffernan (ed.)
Human Rights: A European
Perspective
|
(1994) at pages 70 and 81.
j
4. A case with an interesting Irish angle was
Chief Adjudication Officer v Twomey
\
[ 1992] 2 CMLR 571. Other examples
j
include
Warmerdamesteggerda
[1991] 2
CMLR 86;
Newton
v
Chief
Adjudication
Officer [
1992] 1 CMLR 149;
Johnson
fl991 ] 3 CMLR 917; and
Clarke v Chief
Adjudication Officer
[1987] 3 CMLR 277.
5. O'Caoimh and Barry, "The Development of
the Free Movement of Persons towards
European Citizenship" (1993) IJEL 98.
6. E.g. cases such as
Secretary of State for
Social Security
v
Thomas
[1993] 3 CMLR
880.
7. Including the right to sue a Member State
for damages for failure to implement a
Directive; see Joined Cases C-6/90 and C-
9 / 90
Francovich and Bonifaci
v
Italian
Republic
[1991] ECR 1-5357, [1992] IRLR
84.
8. Act No. 24 of 1991.
9. Case C-106/8 [1992] 1 CMLR 305, [1992]
IRLR 84.
10. Emmott v The Minister for Social Welfare
[1991] 3 CMLR 894, [1991] IRLR 387.
11. Case C-106/89
Marleasing
v
La
Comercial
International de Alimentacion SA
[1990]
ECR 1-4135, [1992] 1 CMLR 305, [1992]
IRLR 84 and Case 14/83
Von Colson
v
Land Nordrhein-Wesfalen
[1984] ECR 311,
[1986] 2 CMLR 430.
12. E.g.
Grogan v SPUC
[1991] 3 CMLR 849.
j
13. Koopmans, "The Future of the Court of
j
Justice of the European Communities"
(1991) 11
YEL
15 at 15.
14. Case 186/87
Cowan
v
Le Tresor Public
[1989] ECR 195, [1990] 2 CMLR 613 and
Meagher
v
Minister for Agriculture
and
Food
[1994] 1 IR 329, [1994] I ILRM 1.
15. See above.
16. EC Treaty, Art.6.
17. EC Treaty, Art.48.
18. See Dir. 68/360, Arts. 2 and 3. See Case C- j
113/89
Rush Portugesa Limitada
v
ONI
[1990] ECR 1-1417, [1991] 2 CMLR 818.
19. Dir. 68/360, Art. 2.
20. EC Treaty, Art. 52.
21
. Grogan
v
Society for the Protection of the
Unborn Child [
1991] 3 CMLR 849; Cases
286/82 and 26/83
Luisi and Carbone v
Ministero de Tesero
[1984] ECR 377,
[1985] 3 CMLR 52; and
Cowan v Tresor
Public
see above.
22. See
East
v
Cuddy and Cuddy,
Circuit
Court, Sheehy J., unreported, 11th Nov.
1985.
23. EC Treaty, Art. 85(1).
24. EC Treaty, Act. 85(2).
25. EC Treaty, Art. 85 (3).
26. A comparable (but not identical) provision
is contained in Art. 65 of the ECSC Treaty.
27. A comparable (but not identical) provision
is contained in Art. 66 of the ECSC Treaty.
28. Unreported Decision of the European
Commission, 16th May 1995.
29. McMahon and Murphy,
European
Community Law in Ireland
(1989), Chap.
12.
30. Cf.
Dunlea
v
Nissan
[1993] IJEL 146.
31. Dir. 77/187.
32. Case 113/80
EC Commission
v
Ireland
[1981] ECR 1625.
33. E.g. Case 222/86
UNECTEF v Heylens
[1987] ECR 4097, [1989] 1 CMLR 901 and
Case C-340/89
Vlassopoulou
v
Ministerium
Justiz
[1993] 2 CMLR 221.
34. See cases such as
An Bord Bainne Co-
operative Ltd v Minister for
Agriculture
( 1 9 8 7 )2 JIEL 37.
35. Cousins, "The EEC Social Security
Regulations in Ireland" (1992) 2 IJEL 105.
•