CELEX: C2002/274/17
Language: en
Date: 2002-11-09 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 17 September 2002 in Case C-320/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Appeal (England & Wales) (Civil Division): A.G. Lawrence and Others v Regent Office Care Ltd, Commercial Catering Group, Mitie Secure Services Ltd (Principle of equal pay for men and women — Direct effect — Comparison of the work performed for different employers)

9.11.2002                EN                        Official Journal of the European Communities                                           C 274/11
Community law precludes the retroactive application of a time-limit           A situation such as that in the main proceedings, in which the
that is shorter and, as the case may be, more restrictive for the             differences identified in the pay conditions of workers of different sex
claimant than the period for initiating proceedings that was previously       performing equal work or work of equal value cannot be attributed to
applicable to claims for the recovery of national taxes contrary to           a single source, does not come within the scope of Article 141(1) EC.
Community law where no adequate transitional period is provided
during which claims relating to sums paid before the entry into force
of the legislation introducing the new time-limit may still be brought        (1 ) OJ C 316 of 4.11.2000.
within the old period. Where a limitation period of five years is
replaced with a time-limit of three years, a transitional period of 90
days must be regarded as insufficient and six months must be
regarded as the minimum period required to ensure that the exercise
of rights of recovery is not rendered excessively difficult.
( 1) OJ C 247 of 26.8.2000.                                                                     JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                                                                                                      of 17 September 2002
                                                                              in Case C-334/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
                                                                              the Corte suprema di cassazione): Fonderie Officine
                                                                              Meccaniche Tacconi SpA v Heinrich Wagner Sinto
                                                                                             Maschinenfabrik GmbH (HWS) ( 1)
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                       (Brussels Convention — Article 5(1) and (3) — Special
                                                                                           jurisdiction — Pre-contractual liability)
                       of 17 September 2002                                                               (2002/C 274/18)
in Case C-320/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from                                           (Language of the case: Italian)
the Court of Appeal (England & Wales) (Civil Division):
A.G. Lawrence and Others v Regent Office Care Ltd,
Commercial Catering Group, Mitie Secure Services Ltd (1)                      (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                                                                                                   in the European Court Reports)
(Principle of equal pay for men and women — Direct
effect — Comparison of the work performed for different
                               employers)                                     In Case C-334/00: Reference to the Court under the Protocol
                                                                              of 3 June 1971 on the interpretation by the Court of Justice of
                                                                              the Convention of 27 September 1968 on Jurisdiction and the
                                                                              Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters
                           (2002/C 274/17)
                                                                              by the Corte suprema di cassazione (Italy) for a preliminary
                                                                              ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
                                                                              Fonderie Officine Meccaniche Tacconi SpA and Heinrich
                     (Language of the case: English)                          Wagner Sinto Maschinenfabrik GmbH (HWS), on the interpret-
                                                                              ation of Article 5(1) and (3) of the abovementioned Convention
                                                                              of 27 September 1968 (OJ 1978 L 304, p. 36), as amended by
                                                                              the Convention of 9 October 1978 on the Accession of the
                                                                              Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom of
In Case C-320/00: Reference to the Court under Article 234                    Great Britain and Northern Ireland (OJ 1978 L 304, p. 1 and
EC by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales (Civil                         — amended version — p. 77), by the Convention of 25 Octo-
Division) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending                 ber 1982 on the Accession of the Hellenic Republic (OJ 1982
before that court between A. G. Lawrence and Others and                       L 388, p. 1) and by the Convention of 26 May 1989 on the
Regent Office Care Ltd, Commercial Catering Group, Mitie                      Accession of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese
Secure Services Ltd, on the interpretation of Article 141(1) EC,              Republic (OJ 1989 L 285, p. 1), the Court, composed of:
the Court, composed of: G. C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President,                  G. C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President, N. Colneric and S. von Bahr
P. Jann, F. Macken, N. Colneric (Rapporteur) and S. von Bahr                  (Presidents of Chambers), C. Gulmann, D. A. O. Edward, A. La
(Presidents of Chambers), D. A. O. Edward, A. La Pergola,                     Pergola, J.-P. Puissochet, M. Wathelet, R. Schintgen, J. N. Cunha
J.-P. Puissochet, M. Wathelet, R. Schintgen and V. Skouris,                   Rodrigues (Rapporteur) and C. W. A. Timmermans, Judges;
Judges; L. A. Geelhoed, Advocate General; H. A. Rühl, Principal               L. A. Geelhoed, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has
Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on                     given a judgment on 17 September 2002, in which it has
17 September 2002, in which it has ruled:                                     ruled: