''Foster v British Gas plc'' (1990
C-188/89
is a leading

EU law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its val ...

concerning the definition of the "state", for the purpose of determining which organisations in the private or public sector can be regarded as an organ of the state. The ECJ held a state is any manifestation or organisation under control of a central government. In a previous case, '' Chandler v Director of Public Prosecutions'', 964AC 763 (HL Lord Reid held a state is synonymous with an 'organised community', and according to

Lord Devlin Patrick Arthur Devlin, Baron Devlin, PC, FBA (25 November 1905 – 9 August 1992) was a British judge and legal philosopher. The second-youngest English High Court judge in the 20th century, he served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from ...

it meant 'the organs of government of a national community'.

Facts

Mrs Foster was required to retire from her job at

British Gas British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Servi ...

when she was 60 years old, while men could continue until they were 65. British Gas was a

nationalised industry State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownershi ...

at the time (before being privatised under the

Gas Act 1986 The Gas Act 1986 (Chapter 44) created the framework for privatisation of the gas supply industry in Great Britain. This legislation would be replacing the British Gas Corporation (government or state ownership) with British Gas plc (private own ...

), and she and four other women claimed this was unlawful discrimination on grounds of sex, contrary to 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, ...

(then 76/207/EEC, and now recast in 2006/54/EC). Because directives in principle only bind the member state, to which they are addressed, in order to make a direct claim against her employer, Mrs Foster needed to show that British Gas was part of the state. She argued it was because the board members of British Gas were appointed by a minister in the UK government (a secretary of state), which could also issue to the board various directions and instruments. Additionally, the board was required to submit periodic reports to the secretary of state.

Judgment

Court of Justice

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 U ...

held that the decision on any given set of facts for what constituted part of the state was to be left to the courts of the member state in principle. The general requirements would be that the organisation had to be subject to the authority or control of the state, whatever its legal form, and whether in public or private hands.

House of Lords

The women appealed to the House of Lords. In the meantime, the European Court of Justice held that Art.5(1) could be relied on against anyone made responsible for the provision of a public service. Held, allowing the appeal, that the corporation was a body against which Art.5(1) could be enforced; the matter would be remitted for assessment of compensation (Foster v British Gas Plc (C-188/89)

991 Year 991 ( 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 Truce of God, between Æthelred the Unready and Richard I of ...

1 Q.B. 405 approved).

Notes

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References