The European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) is an act of the Irish parliament, the Oireachtas, that incorporates the

treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...

and

law of the European Union European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...

into the domestic law of Ireland. The Act did not just incorporate the law of the European Communities which existed at the time of its enactment, but incorporates legislative acts of the Community enacted subsequently. The Act also provides that government ministers may adopt

statutory instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrument ...

s (SIs) to implement EU law, and that those SIs are to have effect as if they were acts of parliament. Doing either of these things would normally count as an unconstitutional delegation of the legislative power of the state. However this problem was anticipated by the adoption of the

Third Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland The Third Amendment of the Constitution Act 1972 is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland that permitted the State to join the European Communities, which would later become the European Union, and provided that European Community law wo ...

which protects any legislation that is necessitated by the obligations of membership of the European Union. The constitutionality of the Act's provisions regarding statutory instruments was challenged in ''Meagher v Minister for Agriculture'' on the basis that they were an unlawful delegation of legislative power by the Oireachtas. The plaintiff was successful in the High Court but the decision was reversed on appeal to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that: :"The court is satisfied that, having regard to the number of community laws, acts done and measures adopted which either have to be facilitated in their direct application to the law of the State or have to be implemented by appropriate action into the law of the State, the obligation of membership would necessitate facilitating of these activities, in some instances, at least, and possibly in a great majority of instances, by the making of ministerial regulations rather than legislation of the Oireachtas."

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The Act (as originally enacted)

The Act (as amended and in force on 2 November 2012)

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See also