Halsbury into Europe
Clive Schmitthoff
The unbelievable has happened: European Community Law has penetrated into the sanctum sanctorum of English law, Halsbury's Statutes. A European Continuation Volume has been published as part of this great collection of the Statutes of England* a sure indication that Community Law now forms part of our legal system. This continuation volume has also been made available to a broader public as a separate work under the title European Legislation.
The work is devoted to the primary and secondary legislation of the European Communities between 1952 to 1972 but incorporates amendments up to January 1, 1974 and later, where possible. The volume will be kept up-to-date by supplements. The authors are well-known authorities on the subject. Consulting Editor is the , Professor of Comparative Law in the University of Cambridge, Dr K. Lipstein, the author of the superb work on the Law of the European Economic Community. The two Editors are Professor J. W. Bridge, of the University of Exeter, and Miss Elizabeth Freeman, of University College London. The academic pedigree of the volume is thus impeccable.
The difficulty arises in the arrangement of the material which had to go into this volume, Halsbury's Statutes, like Halsbury's Laws of England, are arranged according to subject-matter. The titles, which comprise the generally accepted arrangement of English law, follow the alphabet. This is a typical English form of presentation which has come down to us from the time of the Abridgments. This arrangement is very useful to the busy practitioner, particularly when he wishes to inform himself on a point with which he is unfamiliar. The problem is, however and this problem must have caused
*Halsbury's Statutes of England, Third Edition, Volume 42A. European Contin uation Volume 1. 1952-1972 (Butter , worths £23). the managing editor of The Statutes and the editor of this volume many headaches can this English approach be applied to European Community .Law? The editors were aware of this problem. They write in their introduction: The arrangement and terminology of the law of the European Communities will be unfamiliar to most English lawyers and may provide a stumblingblock to ascertaining the relevant Community law and placing it in relation to English law. In order to help the practitioner overcome such initial difficulties the material contained in this volume has been arranged under the most appropriate of the familiar Halsbury titles. Cross-references to implementing United_ Kingdom legislation have been given throughout the volume.
The subject-matter is thus presented underthe following titles: Agriculture; Aliens, Nationality and Immigration; Banking; Carriers; Commonwealth and other Territories; Companies; Constitutional Law; Contract; Courts; Customs and Excise; Employment; Fisheries; Food; Judgements and Execution; Medicine and Pharmacy; Mines, Minerals and Quarries; Money; National Insurance and Social Security; Parliament; Public Health; Road Traffic; Stamp Duties; Statutes (Note); Taxation; Time; Tort; Trade and Industry; Trade Marks and Trade Names; Weights and Measures. But all the other Halsbury titles are included, often followed by a note that no Community legislation during 1952 to 1972 falls within the scope of the title or giving cross. references.
Is this attempt at encompassing Community law into a familiar English pattern successful? One may have doubts about this. A new type of law requires a new method of presentation in order to make it accessible. However, it must be admitted that in view of the traditional arrangement of Halsbury the Editors had hardly a choice. The arrangement on which they have eventually settled has at least the advantage of bringing the primary and secondary legislation on a particular subject together at one place.
On the other hand, their treatment has very considerable disadvantages. The comment on the primary sources, viz, mainly the Treaties on which the three Communities are founded and the Act of Accession, is split up and found under different titles. Thus, the comment on article 74 of the EEC Treaty, which deals with the common transport policy, appears under "Carriers" on p.163 and precedes the comment on article 12 which prohibits the introduction of new customs duties or charges having equivalent effect and is discussed on p.522 under "Customs and Excise." But in order to make good the obvious drawback of this method, under the title "Constitutional Law" the self-same sources of primary legislation are again given in their textual order; here they are not always reproduced in full because this would have meant duplication, and references are given to the titles under which they _ can be found.
This method of treatment is, of
course, at the beginning slightly confusing and one has to get used to it. The European Communities Act 1972 is not commented upon in this volume; it is treated in another volume of The Statutes, viz, in volume 42. This is logical as the 1972 Act is United Kingdom legislation and not Communities legislation. But from the practical point of view it is not very helpful to the purchasers of the individual volume who will want to know about the implementation of the Community measures in the United Kingdom.
To sum up, the user — one cannot refer to the reader — will first of all have to make himself thoroughly familiar with the methodology of this work and will have to make full use of the excellent tables preceding the titles. He will then find the work helpful as a guide to the new law. But he must bear in mind, even if the supplements are produced speedily, that he must engage in further research in order to ascertain the latest position in this rapidly changing branch of law. The volume constitutes a valiant attempt at presenting, from the English point of view, a body of law which is new in spirit and letter. For that reason it should be useful to the English legal practitioner.
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