Emanation of the state is a term used in European law to describe any body which provides a public service under the control of government. The term was defined by the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...

(ECJ) in 1990, in the case of ''Foster, A and others v. British Gas plc''.Full text: The ECJ's ruling defines the term as:

A body, whatever its legal form, which has been made responsible, pursuant to a measure adopted by the state, for providing a public service under the control of the state and has for that purpose special powers beyond that which result from the normal rules applicable in relations between individuals.

The term is most obviously used to describe public sector employers, such as the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

fire service A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

bodies or schools.

''Foster, A and others v. British Gas plc''

This case was referred to the ECJ by the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

in 1990. The issue to be decided was whether employees of a nationalised industry (in this case

British Gas plc British Gas plc was an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It was formed when the British Gas Corporation was privatised as a result of the Gas Act 1986, instigated by the government of Margaret Thatcher and superseding the G ...

) could rely upon the

Equal Treatment Directive Equal Treatment Directive 20062006/54/EC is a legal act of European Union law, which implements the principle of equal treatment between men and women in EU labour law. Background Since the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force in 1999, new EU laws ...

when making claims in the English courts. British Gas dismissed female employees when they reached 60, the compulsory retirement age for women at the time, but male employees were not required to retire until 65. At the time, the Sex Discrimination Act did not prevent discrimination in retirement age, so the employees' only recourse was to the Equal Treatment Directive. The court found in favour of the employees. The gist of the finding was that when a state has failed to implement a directive as required, that state should not be allowed to benefit from the failure. Therefore, the provisions of the Equal Treatment Directive (and any other EU directive) can be relied upon against any organisation that is an emanation of the state.

References

External links

Explanation of the ECJExplanation of the court case
European Union legal terminology House of Lords cases Court of Justice of the European Union Labour law Public services {{EU-law-stub