The Queen (on the application of Western Sahara Campaign UK) v. Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and Another

Abstract

Relationship of international law and municipal law — Treaties — United Nations Charter, 1945 — Principles of international law — Customary international law — European Union law — Judicial review — Defendants applying EU law provisions — Whether defendants acting unlawfully — International agreements concluded by European Union — Failure to distinguish between sovereign territories of Morocco and Western Sahara — Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara — Right of people of Western Sahara to self-determination — Validity of actions of European Union in reaching agreements — Whether European Commission able to make agreements and remain in conformity with international law and UN Charter without consultation and consent of Saharawi people and recognized representatives having been obtained — Whether claimant’s claims justiciable — Whether EU measures arguably unlawful — Whether arguable case of manifest error by European Commission in understanding and applying international law — Whether appropriate for English court to request preliminary reference from Court of Justice of the European Union

Territory — Non-self-governing territory — Western Sahara — Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara — Agreements between European Union and Morocco — Failure to distinguish between sovereign territories of Morocco and Western Sahara — Validity of actions of European Union in reaching Agreements — Whether European Commission able to make Agreements and remain in conformity with international law and UN Charter without consultation and consent of Saharawi people and recognized representatives having been obtained — Whether arguable case of manifest error by European Commission in understanding and applying international law — Whether appropriate for English court to request preliminary reference from Court of Justice of the European Union

State responsibility — International Law Commission’s Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, 2001 — Duty of States to cooperate to end serious breaches of peremptory norm of international law — Customary international law — Whether failure by administering power to promote self-determination constituting a breach — Whether arguable case of manifest error by European Commission in understanding and applying international law — Whether appropriate for English court to request preliminary reference from Court of Justice of the European Union — The law of England