''Marleasing SA v La Comercial Internacional de Alimentación SA'' (1990
C-106/89was a decision of the
European Court of Justice 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
European Union law. It established that the courts of
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
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 9911 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.
See also
*
Direct effect
In European Union law, direct effect is the principle that Union law may, if appropriately framed, confer rights on individuals which the courts of member states of the European Union are bound to recognise and enforce.
Direct effect is not e ...
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