swarb.co.uk - law index
These cases are from the lawindexpro database. They are now being transferred to the swarb.co.uk website in a better form. As a case is published there, an entry here will link to it. The swarb.co.uk site includes many later cases.
Utilities - From: 1998 To: 1998
This page lists 9 cases, and was prepared on 02 April 2018.
Vela Palacios v ESC; ECFI 14-Jan-1998 - T-30/97; [1998] EUECJ T-30/97
Empress Car Company (Abertillery) Ltd v National Rivers Authority; HL 22-Jan-1998 - Gazette, 26 February 1998; Times, 09 February 1998; Gazette, 25 March 1998; [1998] 2 WLR 350; [1998] UKHL 5; [1999] 2 AC 22; [1998] 1 All ER 481
Regina v Minister of Energy and Director General of Electricity Supply ex parte Robert Guildford [1998] EWHC Admin 203
18 Feb 1998
Admn
Utilities
[ Bailii ]
Regina v Director General of Water Services ex parte Lancashire County Council and similar Times, 06 March 1998; [1998] EWHC Admin 213
20 Feb 1998
Admn
Consumer, Utilities
The installation of metered water supplies so as to cut off the supply of water automatically on non-payment was a threat to health and was unlawful.
Water Industry Act 1991 61
[ Bailii ]
Proceedings brought by Outokumpu Oy C-213/96; [1998] ECR I-1777; [1998] EUECJ C-213/96
2 Apr 1998
ECJ
Utilities, Customs and Excise
An excise duty which is charged on electricity of domestic origin at rates which vary according to its method of production, while being levied on imported electricity at a flat rate which is higher than the lowest rate but lower than the highest rate applicable to electricity of domestic origin, constitutes internal taxation within the meaning of Article 95 of the Treaty, not a charge having equivalent effect to a customs duty within the meaning of Articles 9 and 12, where it forms part of a general system of taxation which is levied not only on electrical energy as such but also on several primary energy sources, and where both imported electricity and electricity of domestic origin form part of the same tax system and the duty is levied by the same authorities under the same procedures, whatever the origin of the electricity. The fact that imported electricity is taxed at the moment of import and electricity of domestic origin at the moment of production makes no difference for the classification of such a duty, since in view of the characteristics of electricity those two moments correspond to the same marketing stage, namely that when the electricity enters the national distribution network. Community law does not, at its present stage of development, restrict the freedom of each Member State to establish a tax system which differentiates between certain products, even products which are similar within the meaning of the first paragraph of Article 95 of the Treaty, on the basis of objective criteria, such as the nature of the raw materials used or the production processes employed. Such differentiation is compatible with Community law, however, only if it pursues objectives which are themselves compatible with the requirements of the Treaty and its secondary legislation, and if the detailed rules are such as to avoid any form of discrimination, direct or indirect, against imports from other Member States or any form of protection of competing domestic products. Article 95 of the Treaty therefore does not preclude the rate of an internal duty on electricity from varying according to the manner in which the electricity is produced and the raw materials used, in so far as that differentiation is based on environmental considerations. Protection of the environment constitutes one of the essential objectives of the Community. The Community's task includes the promotion of sustainable and non-inflationary growth respecting the environment and its activities include a policy in the sphere of the environment. Furthermore, compatibility with the environment of methods of producing electrical energy is an important objective of the Community's energy policy.
Europa The first paragraph of Article 95 of the Treaty precludes an excise duty which forms part of a national system of taxation on sources of energy from being levied on electricity of domestic origin at rates which vary according to its method of production while being levied on imported electricity, whatever its method of production, at a flat rate which, although lower than the highest rate applicable to electricity of domestic origin, leads, if only in certain cases, to higher taxation being imposed on imported electricity. Article 95 of the Treaty is infringed by a system of internal taxation where the taxation on the imported product and that on the similar domestic product are calculated in a different manner on the basis of different criteria which lead, if only in certain cases, to higher taxation being imposed on the imported product. The fact that, because of the characteristics of electricity, it may prove extremely difficult to determine precisely the method of production of imported electricity and hence the primary energy sources used for its production cannot justify such a system of taxation, since practical difficulties cannot justify the application of internal taxation which discriminates against products from other Member States. Although in principle Article 95 of the Treaty does not require Member States to abolish objectively justified differences which national legislation establishes between internal taxes on domestic products, it is otherwise where such abolition is the only way of avoiding direct or indirect discrimination against the imported products.
1 Citers
[ Bailii ]
Windpark Groothusen v Commission [1998] EUECJ C-48/96P
14 May 1998
ECJ
Utilities
ECJ Appeal - Financial support in the energy sector - Thermie programme - Right to full legal protection - Duty to state reasons - Right to a hearing - Discretion
[ Bailii ]
Russell v Coventry and Solihull Waste Disposal Co Ltd Times, 11 June 1998; [1999] 1 WLR 2093
11 Jun 1998
CA
Rating, Utilities
For a site supplying several services including waste management and lesser electricity generation, the primary purpose governed its rating, and the site did not have the exemptions from commercial rates which were allowed to generator sites. An explanatory note may be referred to as an aid to construction where the statutory instrument to which it is attached is ambiguous.
Gas and Electricity Industries (Rateable Values) (Amendment) Order 1990 (1990 No 804)
1 Citers
National Power Plc v National Grid Company Plc [1998] EWCA Civ 1227
16 Jul 1998
CA
Utilities, Arbitration
[ Bailii ]
British Telecommunications Plc v Nottinghamshire County Council [1998] EWHC Admin 989
21 Oct 1998
Admn
Crime, Utilities
The court considered an appeal by case stated against a conviction on 2 informations under sections 71(1) and (5). One alleged a failure to comply with the prescribed requirements as to the specification of materials to be used in reinstating the street. The other alleged a failure to comply with the prescribed requirements as to the standards of workmanship to be observed in reinstating the street.
New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 71(1) 71(5)
1 Citers
[ Bailii ]
