Foglia v Novello (No 1)
The Court of Justice will refuse to answer questions referred in proceedings that are contrived, because there is no genuine dispute between the parties.
Facts
Mr Foglia, an Italian wine merchant, sold Italian liqueur wine to Mrs Novello, who lived in France. Their contract provided that she would not pay any charges levied in breach of EU law. When the French authorities charged a tax on the wine, which Mr Foglia paid, he sued Mrs Novello in the Italian courts for the amount. Both parties argued that the French tax was contrary to EU law, and it was clear that the litigation was arranged to obtain a ruling against the French tax. The Italian court referred questions to the Court of Justice.
Legal principle
The Court of Justice refused to answer the questions. It said that its duty under the preliminary reference procedure is to supply all courts in the EU with the information on the interpretation of EU law which is necessary to enable them to settle genuine disputes which are brought before them. It cannot be used to obtain rulings on artificial disputes, created by the parties to obtain a ruling that a law of another Member State is contrary to EU law. The parties were in agreement, and the dispute was contrived.
Related cases on preliminary references
- Broekmeulen v Huisarts Registratie Commissie Case 246/80, [1981] ECR 2311
- Consorzio Italian Management v Rete Ferroviaria Italiana SpA Case C-561/19, EU:C:2021:799
- Da Costa en Schaake NV v Nederlandse Belastingadministratie Joined Cases 28/62 to 30/62, [1963] ECR 31
- Dorsch Consult Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH v Bundesbaugesellschaft Berlin mbH Case C-54/96, [1997] ECR I-4961
- Elchinov v Natsionalna zdravnoosiguritelna kasa Case C-173/09, [2010] ECR I-8889
- Foto-Frost v Hauptzollamt Lübeck-Ost Case 314/85, [1987] ECR 4199
- HP Bulmer Ltd v J Bollinger SA [1974] Ch 401
- Lyckeskog Case C-99/00, [2002] ECR I-4839
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