Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:1998:424
Date: 1998-09-22
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Full Court
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Social Policy
Concepts: General;Equality for men and women
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: United Kingdom

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Acts of the institutions — Directives — Implementation by the Member States — Need to 
ensure that directives are effective — Obligations of national courts 
(EC Treaty, Arts 5 and 189, third para.) 
2. Social policy — Men and women — Access to employment and working conditions — Equal 
treatment — Directive 76/207 — Refusal of the employer to provide references after the end 
of the employment relationship — Principle of effective judicial control — Extent 
(Council Directive 76/207, Art. 6) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-185/97 
1. The Member States' obligation arising from 
a directive to achieve the result envisaged 
by the directive and their duty under 
Article 5 of the Treaty to take all appro­
priate measures, whether general or par­
ticular, to ensure the fulfilment of that 
obligation are binding on all the authori­
ties of Member States including, for mat­
ters within their jurisdiction, the courts. 
In applying national law, in particular leg­
islative provisions which were specially 
introduced in order to implement a direc­
tive, the national court is required to inter­
pret its national law, so far as possible, in 
the light of the wording and the purpose 
of the directive in order to achieve the 
result pursued by the third paragraph of 
Article 189 of the Treaty. 
2. Article 6 of Directive 76/207 on the imple­
mentation of the principle of equal treat­
ment for men and women as regards access 
to employment, vocational training and 
promotion, and working conditions 
requires Member States to introduce into 
their national legal systems such measures 
as are necessary to ensure judicial protec­
tion for workers whose employer, after 
the employment relationship has ended, 
refuses to provide references as a reaction 
to legal proceedings brought to enforce 
compliance with the principle of equal 
treatment within the meaning of that direc­
tive. 
The principle of effective judicial control 
laid down in Article 6, a principle which 
underlies the constitutional traditions 
common to the Member States and which 
is also enshrined in Article 6 of the Euro­
pean Convention for the Protection of 
Human Rights and Fundamental Free­
doms, would be deprived of an essential 
part of its effectiveness if the protection 
which it provides did not cover measures 
which an employer might take as a reac­
tion to legal proceedings brought by an 
employee with the aim of enforcing com­
pliance with the principle of equal treat­
ment. Fear of such measures, where no 
legal remedy is available against them, 
might deter workers who considered them­
selves the victims of discrimination from 
pursuing their claims by judicial process, 
and would consequently be liable seri­
ously to jeopardise implementation of the 
aim pursued by the Directive. 
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