Europe centre stage

Not so long ago it was said that European law was a specialist area. That is no longer the case. No practitioner can in truth ignore the ramifications of the United Kingdom's continued membership of the Community.

The long arm of Brussels

The first point to emphasise is that European law infiltrates and affects all aspects of domestic law. Increasingly judges in all courts are aware of this and have some familiarity with the basic principles of Community law. Many of the cases that law students are familiar with (such as Sunday trading) started as prosecutions in the criminal courts which were met by a defence based upon Community law.

Practitioners across the Bar confront, upon a daily basis, issues of Community law. Environmental lawyers of necessity speak of little else than habitat and impact assessment directives. Employment lawyers are regularly asked to advise and act in cases involving equal pay, non-discrimination in the context of employment, and the rights and obligations on employees and employers when an undertaking is transferred. Intellectual property lawyers agonise over 'grey imports' and whether trademarks can lawfully be used to dry up imports of (say) jeans from the USA or drugs from elsewhere in Europe. Practitioners in the field of agriculture scratch their heads over arcane regulations concerning milk quotas, foot and mouth controls, export refunds, subsidies and so on. All of these are affected by Community law.

Human Rights Act

What is more Community law has, since its inception, embraced the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights as 'general principles' of Community law. With the advent of the Human Rights Act Community lawyers are especially well placed to take advantage of the fascinating possibilities that the Act presents, and many are now presenting arguments before the courts as the first wave of cases works its way through. At present the Bar at all levels has an enormous and increasing interest in Human Rights. Commercial practitioners appreciate that Article 6 (on rights to a fair hearing) affects innumerable aspects of their daily business. Lawyers practising in the entertainments and broadcasting field are delving into the implications of the rights to privacy and free speech. Every field of law is affected.

Practising Community law

In short, Community law is a thriving and exciting area to practise in. There are a relatively small number of chambers who have large specialist groups within them devoted almost exclusively to the practice of European law. However, outside these chambers there are still many practitioners and groups of practitioners around the Bar for whom Community law forms a significant part of their practices. The Bar European Group - which is the specialist group to which barristers with an interest in European law can belong - has over 700 members all of whom profess an ongoing interest in Community law. This is a reflection of the widespread importance of Community law at the Bar.

Community law, of course, has an international dimension. The highest courts for Community law are those in Luxembourg, namely the Court of First Instance and the European Court of Justice. United Kingdom barristers are extremely well respected in both of those courts. Unlike many of their continental colleagues, United Kingdom counsel tend not to speak from notes, endeavour to engage the court in an interesting and forensically effective manner and, generally, turn oral hearings into stimulating events. Barristers are also regularly instructed to appear for clients in meetings with the European Commission, and in Oral Hearings in competition cases before the Commission.

A number of members of the English Bar have made their principal place of practice Brussels and are regularly seen on Eurostar between Brussels and Waterloo, London. Community lawyers of necessity increasingly see themselves as 'Euro-common lawyers'. They appear in criminal courts, county courts, the High Court and Appellate Courts within the United Kingdom. There is nowhere where the intrepid Community lawyer will not go.

Nicholas Green QC