Public Law

1633 Words4 Pages

Public Law

Prime facie, this case would seem to be a simple matter regarding the

Weights and Measures Act 1985[1]. However, the defence brings into

their argument, important issues concerning legislative supremacy.

There is a distinct element of constitutional significance to this

case and this is evident from the fact that Lord Justice Law’s

judgement devotes a substantial amount of direction on the issue of

implied repeal and the entrenchment of community law. It is important

to look at the facts of this case and they are fairly simple. The

defendant Mr. Thoburn was a greengrocer in Sunderland. As part of his

business he used weighing equipment to weigh the product he was

providing to his customer. This weighing equipment gave indication in

imperial demarcations, which was contrary to current legislation and

the defendant was given an official warning along with some 28 days to

rectify the violation. The defendant ignored the warning and continued

to use the weighing machines with imperial demarcations. He was

charged with 2 offences and pleaded not guilty on the grounds that his

actions were not contrary to current legislation.

Firstly, let us examine some of the main points in Laws L.J’s

judgement. His lordship highlights the fact that the centrepiece of

the defence’s argument was the Doctrine of Implied Repeal[2]. The

defence contended that the Weights and Measures Act 1985[3] repealed a

section of the European Communities Act 1972[4] and therefore the

later act took precedence over the earlier Act. The defence relied

upon numerous cases in which implied repeal is substantiated and

confirmed such as Vauxhall Estates Ltd v...

... middle of paper ...

... [4] UK ST 1972 c 68

[5] [1932] 1 KB 733

[6] [1934] 1 KB 590

[7] [1932] 1 KB 733

[8][2000] 2 A.C. 115

[9] Section #62 of Laws L.J. judgement in [2003] Q.B. 151

[10] UK ST 1972 c 68

[11] (No2)(Case C-213/89) [1991] 1 AC 603 658-659

[12] [1974] ECR 1337 Case 41/74

[13] See Laws L.J.’s judgement in (No2)(Case C-213/89) [1991] 1 AC 603

658-659, Section #62

[14] The UK has traditionally had a dualist approach to international

law. This means that in the case of the EU directives and other

non-direct effect legislation, parliament must pass an act in

accordance with the directive in order for it to become valid UK law.

This argument is clarified in A.F.M. Maniruzzaman’s Journal on the

Topic of European Communities. EJIL 2001 12(309)

[15] (No2)(Case C-213/89) [1991] 1 AC 603 658-659

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