Can British cases be appealed to International Court in the Hague?

Question

How does the EU legal system works? Is The court in The Hague the Highest court in the land?

Answer 1

No British cases cannot be appealed to the International Court at the Hague.

The highest Court in Europe for dealing with Human Rights issues is the European Court on Human Rights. Cases can be taken by UK Citizens to this court if and when all legal procedures in the UK have been pursed although dispensation can sometimes be given by the Court. To find out more you can visit the Courts Web page at: http://www.echr.coe.int/echr.

The International Court at the Hague is not for private citizens but deals with International law cases which are inter-governmental so it is not a forum for UK citizens to appeal to.

Matters which concern European Law, i.e. the law of the European Union can be referred to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Its website is at: http://curia.europa.eu/en/transitpage.htm. But again this is only after all UK legal avenues have been pursued.

The UK legal system has always been complex but is becoming increasingly so. The House of Lords is the Highest UK Court. However on matters of European Law it must refer questions to the Court in Luxembourg. These decisions are then incorporated in its rulings. When matters concern Human Rights however matters can be taken to the European Court of Human Rights. This is not strictly an appeal however as the Judgment of the House of Lords is not overruled by any decision of the ECHR but the UK Government is obliged to take action as specified by the ECHR. The European declaration of human rights is part of the law of Europe and is also enforced, although obliquely, by the European Court of Justice.

Answer 2

Arguably, the House of Lords is still the highest court in the land. The reason for this thinking is that, we gave the EU the power they have over us, and ultimately, we can take it away. Secondly, we are a 'Dualist State.' This means that no international law, and that includes EU law, becomes law in our country unless we pass and Act of Parliament to give effect to it. Example. The Human Rights Act 1998 gives effect to most articles of the European convention of Human Rights. Without the HRA98 our legal system would not recognise the convention. But the highest court(s) of the Eu are the European Court of Justice. Its important to remember that this court, following the Court of Appeal case of Reed v Arsenal Football Club, that the ECJ only has jurisdiction over EU law in cases taht have been referred either by the European Commision, or a national court asking for a ruling. It cannot tell the courts that eg they have interpreted the facts of the case wrong, or that a point of domestic law is wrong. Then there is the ECt of Human Rights, which obviously only deals with human rights cases.

EU legal system

There are four main entities; ECJ, European Parliament, The Council of Europe, and the European Commision. The Commision has two roles, one of which is to initiate or propose new laws that the council could adopt. The other is to ensure none of the treaties are broken The council is the main law making body. It is formed of a minister from each member state. Strictly speaking its the Foreign minister, but in reality its the minister best suited to the job eg passing a law on agriculture, the agriculture minister would sit. EU Parliament doesnt really do much!

Answer 3

YES THE CAN BUT THE COURT MUST HAVE SUBECT MATTER JURISDICTION.