Bulmer (HP) Ltd v Bollinger SA: CA 1974

The plaintiff complained that the respondent had described its drink ‘Babycham’ as a champagne perry, which it said was a misuse of the appellation ‘champagne’.
Held: The court considered the effect of European legislation on the law of England and Wales. Lord Denning MR said: ‘But when we come to matters with a European element, the treaty is like an incoming tide. It flows into the estuaries and up the rivers. It cannot be held back. Parliament has decreed that the treaty is henceforward to be part of our law. It is equal in force to any statute.’ Community instruments are not expressed against the background of English canons of construction and should not be so construed.

Judges:

Lord Denning MR

Citations:

[1974] 1 Ch 401, [1974] 3 WLR 202, [1974] 2 All ER 1226

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

MentionedPickstone v Freemans Plc HL 30-Jun-1988
The claimant sought equal pay with other, male, warehouse operatives who were doing work of equal value but for more money. The Court of Appeal had held that since other men were also employed on the same terms both as to pay and work, her claim . .
CitedAttridge Law (A Firm of Solicitors) v Coleman and Law EAT 20-Dec-2006
The claimant asserted associative disability discrimination. She was the carer for her disabled son.
Held: To succeed the claimant would have to show that associative discrimination was prohibited by the directive and that the 1995 Act could . .
CitedRegina v Her Majesty’s Treasury, Ex parte Smedley CA 19-Dec-1984
The applicant sought, as a taxpayer, to object to the proposed payment of andpound;121m to the European Community without an Appropriation Act, but under an Order in Council. The claim was that a draft Order in Council laid by the Treasury before . .
CitedJames Buchanan and Company Ltd v Babco Forwarding and Shipping (UK) Ltd CA 2-Dec-1976
A trailer full of whisky had been stolen. Four fifths of its retail value was excise duty. Because it was to have been exported, duty had not been paid. On the theft the owners had had to pay the duty. The owners sued the carriers for the loss, but . .
CitedVehicle Inspectorate v Bruce Cook Road Planing Ltd and Another Admn 18-Feb-1998
The transport of road maintenance vehicles from one site to another was not itself part of highway maintenance and a tachograph was required. . .
CitedVodafone v Revenue and Customs SCIT 24-May-2005
. .
CitedVehicle and Operator Services Agency v Jones (Nell) Admn 5-Oct-2005
The Agency appealed against dismissal of its allegation that the defendant had wrongfully withdrawn his tachograph record. He had lifted the top of the tachograph which had the effect if disengaging the marker without actually removing the record . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European, Constitutional, Intellectual Property

Updated: 23 March 2022; Ref: scu.200469