Síofra O’Leary, Employment Law at the European Court of Justice: Judicial Structures, Policies and Processes

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Labour lawyers often feel deeply ambivalent about the European Court of Justice. Few can doubt the pivotal role played by the Court in shaping the contours of European Community employment law. The Court has breathed life into the dry language of Treaty provisions and Community legislation in areas such as equal pay and acquired rights, enabling individuals to use the law as a sword against their employer and/or Member State in the national courts. Community law has also, in the hands of the Court, provided a shield for the protection of collective systems of social organisation and distribution against untrammelled market forces. However, for every advance, the Court’s detractors can point to a retreat: the potential of P v S was soon limited in Grant; Schmidt was trumped in Süzen; and BECTU was narrowed down in Bowden. Cases such as Albany International and Schröder, initially lauded, have, on closer inspection, left a mixed and uncertain legacy. For all of these reasons – and more – a book that places the work of the Court of Justice at the centre of its examination of Community employment law is both timely and welcome.