Introduction
The European Union Economic Council introduced the common market fisheries policy in 1970. Under the policy, all member states were required to open their fishing waters to one another without any discrimination. However, the U.K parliament later introduced the Merchant Shipping Act, 1988 which sought to restrict fishing on the U.K waters. Due to this, there was a conflict between the application of the U.K, Merchant Shipping Act and the Common Market policy act in the courts. The conflict in the application can result in famous Factortame litigation.
Rationale for the study
The proposal seeks to understand the conflict in the application between the U.K national laws and the community laws as depicted in the Factortame case. Due to the conflict in the application of laws in court, the litigation took a very long time due to different applications and interpretations of the two laws by different courts. In the U.K, the courts under the direction of its Parliament applied the Merchant Shipping Act which resulted in numerous appeals before the case was taken to the European court, where they applied the common market policy in deciding the case which resulted in a ruling that upheld the community law over the national laws.
Methodology
The proposal will directly observe the records of the Factortame case and the various laws and rulings passed in the different courts where the case was appealed. In addition, the proposal will also look at the factors that led to the U.K parliament introducing the Merchant Shipping Act and the consequences of the act on the Common market policy which was established to benefit the whole region.
Source of data
The source of data for this proposal will come from the archives of the European Economic Council which was responsible for the implementation of the law. In addition, the records of courts where the litigation was held will make a good source of information since one can effectively understand how the conflict arose and the different approaches the courts used in deciding over the matter. Interviewing the plaintiffs, the Spanish company will provide a direct source of information since they were involved in the case for 10 years.
In addition, the plaintiff will also be able to explain how the different laws affected their operations and the amendments they would have wanted to be implemented in the U.K merchant law. The U.K law reports will also be a vital source of data since the case was recorded in the journals and it will be easy and faster to get the information. The U.K Parliament records and journals will also provide vital information into the circumstances that led to the introduction of the Merchant act while there was a community law in existence which is contradicted with.
Conclusion
Under the European Union, the laws and policies set by the union council are supposed to be implemented by member countries into laws in their respective constitutions. The European laws have jurisdiction in all member countries; therefore, the member countries can be able to apply them in their courts. However, if there are two contradicting laws between the national laws and the community laws, a lot of problems in the judicial system arise as the Factortame litigation will show.
Therefore, the project proposal will study the Factortame litigation and the factors surrounding the case. In addition, the two laws, community and national law made it difficult for the decision on the case to be passed since both laws were in contradiction in their application. Thus, while the U.K courts applied the Merchant Shipping Act, the European court applied the common market policy law. Therefore, in the U.K, the judges ruled against the plaintiff while in the European court, the judges ruled in favour of the plaintiff. Therefore, by studying this case, one will be able to fully comprehend the conflicts that resulted in the introduction of a new law contravening the community laws.