''Marleasing SA v La Comercial Internacional de Alimentación SA'' (1990
C-106/89
was a decision of 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 ...

concerning the

indirect effect Indirect effect is a principle of the European Union (EU) law, whereby national courts of the member states of the EU are required to interpret national law in line with provisions of EU law. The principle of indirect effect contrasts with the pri ...

of European Community law, now

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. It established that the courts of

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member states have a duty to interpret national legislation in the light of unimplemented European Union directives.

Facts

Marleasing SA (the Applicant) brought an application before the Spanish national courts for an order that the contract establishing "La Comercial" was void and that the formation of La Comercial should be nullified on the grounds that establishment "lacked cause, was a sham transaction and was carried out in order to defraud the creditors of Barviesa (a co-founder of La Comercial)". Spanish law at the time, Articles 1261 and 1275 of the

Spanish Civil Code The Civil Code of Spain ( es, Código Civil), formally the Royal Decree of 24 July 1889 ( es, Real Decreto de 24 de julio de 1889) is the law that regulates the major aspects of Spanish civil law. It is one of the last civil codes in Continental ...

, stated that "contracts without cause or whose cause is unlawful have no legal effect". La Comercial argued that the action should be dismissed in its entirety on the grounds that article 11 of the First Council Directive 68/151/EEC of 9 March 1968 on coordination of safeguards which, for the protection of the interests of members and others, which had not yet been implemented by Spain, provided an exhaustive list of the cases under which the nullity of a company may be ordered and that "lack of cause" was not a ground listed therein. The Spanish court then referred the following question to the European Court of Justice:

"Is Article 11 of heCouncil Directive 68/151/EEC of 9 March 1968, which has not been implemented in national law, directly applicable so as to preclude a declaration of nullity of a public limited liability company on a ground other than those set out in the said article?"Case C-106/89
991 Year 991 (Roman numerals, CMXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events * March 1: In Rouen, Pope John XV ratifies the first Peace and Truce of God, Truce of God, between ...
1 ECR 4135, paragraph 4

Judgment

The ECJ held that the Spanish Courts were under a duty to interpret national law in a way that gave effect to European law.

References

External links

Judgment of the Court of 13 November 1990. Marleasing SA v La Comercial Internacional de Alimentacion SA. Reference for a preliminary ruling: Juzgado de Primera Instancia e Instruccion no 1 de Oviedo - Spain. Directive 68/151/CEE - Article 11 - Consistent interpretation of national law. Case C-106/89
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marleasing Sa V La Comercial Internacional De Alimentacion Sa Court of Justice of the European Union case law 1990 in case law 1990 in Spain Spanish case law

Facts

Judgment

See also

References

External links