The Law Lords and the European Union: swimming with the incoming tide

This article examines the reception of European Community law by the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords between United Kingdom accession on January 1, 1973 and the transfer of the Committee's functions to the UK Supreme Court on October 1, 2009. It considers cases referred by the Committee to the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling; cases raising questions of Community law which were disposed of by the Committee without a reference to the Court of Justice; and purely domestic cases decided by the Committee where the outcome was influenced by its understanding of the position in Community law. The article concludes with some general reflections on the approach of the Committee to questions of Community law and the possible consequences for the law of the European Union of the creation of the UK Supreme Court.