Adjudicating Europe

On 6 May 2010, an extraordinary appeal has been lodged before the Supreme Court (Högsta Domstolen) against the judgment of the Labour Court (Arbetsdomstolen) of December 2009 by the Swedish trade unions. It is argued inter alia that the Labour Court has found the existence of a principle of damages between individuals in EU law without the support of any judgment of the Court of Justice establishing horizontal damages for breach of Article 49 EC (Article 56 TFEU). It is also contended that the Arbetsdomstolen was under an obligation to make a preliminary reference to the Luxembourg Court. For the trade unions, the Labour Court’s decision constitues a manifest infringement of the law and/or  amounts to a serious fault in the court’s procedure (’grovt rättegångsfel’) which has affected the issue of the case.

The Editors