Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:1999:107
Date: 1999-03-02
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Full Court
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: External relations;Social Policy
Concepts: Effects. Scope and limits;The various agreements concluded by the Community;Definition of court or tribunal of a Member State
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: United Kingdom

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Preliminary rulings — Reference to the Court — National court or tribunal within the 
meaning of Article 177 of the Treaty — Definition — Immigration Adjudicator having juris­
diction to hear and determine disputes concerning foreigners' rights of entry and residence — 
Included 
(EC Treaty, Art. 177) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-416/96 
2. International agreements — Agreements concluded by the Community — Direct effect — 
Conditions — First paragraph of Article 40 of the EEC-Morocco Cooperation Agreement 
(EEC-Morocco Cooperation Agreement, Art. 40, first para.) 
3. International agreements — EEC-Morocco Cooperation Agreement — Moroccan workers 
employed in a Member State — Working conditions and remuneration — Equal treatment — 
Scope — Refusal to extend a residence permit, bringing the worker's employment to an end 
— Whether permissible — Conditions 
(EEC-Morocco Cooperation Agreement, Art. 40, first para.) 
1. In order to determine whether a body 
making a reference is a court or tribunal 
for the purposes of Article 177 of the 
Treaty, which is a question governed by 
Community law alone, it is necessary to 
take into account a number of factors, such 
as whether the body concerned is estab­
lished by law, whether it is permanent, 
whether its jurisdiction is compulsory, 
whether its procedure is inter partes, 
whether it applies rules of law and whether 
it is independent. Those criteria are satis­
fied by Immigration Adjudicators, who 
have jurisdiction to hear and determine 
disputes concerning the rights of foreigners 
to enter and remain on the territory of the 
United Kingdom. 
2. A provision of an agreement concluded 
by the Community with third countries 
must be regarded as being directly effec­
tive when, having regard to its wording 
and the purpose and nature of the agree­
ment itself, the provision contains a clear 
and precise obligation which is not sub­
ject, in its implementation or effects, to 
the adoption of any subsequent measure. 
That is the case as regards the first para­
graph of Article 40 of the Cooperation 
Agreement between the EEC and 
Morocco, which forms part of Title III 
relating to cooperation in the field of 
labour and which, far from being purely 
programmatic in nature, establishes, in the 
field of working conditions and remunera­
tion, a clear and unconditional principle 
the nature of which is sufficiently practical 
that it can be applied by national courts 
and is therefore capable of directly gov­
erning the legal situation of individuals, 
with the result that individuals to whom 
that provision applies are entitled to rely 
on it before the national courts. 
3. The first paragraph of Article 40 of the 
EEC-Morocco Agreement is to be inter­
preted as not precluding in principle a host 
Member State from refusing to extend the 
residence permit of a Moroccan national 
whom it has authorised to enter its terri­
tory and to take up gainful employment 
there, for the entire period during which 
he has that employment there, where the 
initial reason for the grant of his leave to 
stay no longer exists by the time that his 
residence permit expires. 
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EDDLINE EL-YASSINI v SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT 
The situation would be different only if, 
in the absence of grounds relating to the 
protection of a legitimate national interest, 
such as public policy, public security or 
public health, that refusal were to affect 
the right actually to engage in employ­
ment conferred on the person concerned 
by a work permit duly granted by the 
competent national authorities for a period 
exceeding that of his residence permit, It 
is for the national court to determine 
whether that is the case. 
I-1211