Our Case Summary Of The Week:
C-14/83 SABINE VON COLSON AND ELISABETH KAMANN V LAND NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN
In this case law, two women qualified social workers, Sabine von Colson and Elisabeth Kamann, applied to work in men’s prisons but they were rejected on the basis their sex. This historical case law helped to create the principle of indirect effect.
The European Court of Justice established that national courts are required to interpret their national law in the light of the wording and the purpose of the directive in order to achieve the result referred to in the third paragraph of Article 189 of the EEC Treaty, what means that EU Member States are obliged to interpret their existing national laws in a way which will give effect to EU directives.
