Part of the statement that became known as the Ponsonby Rule (1 April 1924).
Context: It is the intention of His Majesty's Government to lay on the table of both Houses of Parliament every treaty, when signed, for a period of 21 days, after which the treaty will be ratified and published and circulated in the Treaty Series. In the case of important treaties, the Government will, of course, take an opportunity of submitting them to the House for discussion within this period. But, as the Government cannot take upon itself to decide what may be considered important or unimportant, if there is a formal demand for discussion forwarded through the usual channels from the Opposition or any other party, time will be found for the discussion of the Treaty in question.
“The Treaty [of Rome] does not touch any of the matters which concern solely England and the people in it. These are still governed by English law. They are not affected by the Treaty. But when we come to matters with a European element, the Treaty is like an incoming tide. It flows into the estuaries and up the rivers. It cannot be held back, Parliament has decreed that the Treaty is henceforward to be part of our law. It is equal in force to any statute.”
H.P. Bulmer Ltd v J. Bollinger SA [1974] Ch 401 at 418.
Judgments
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Alfred Denning, Baron Denning 27
British judge 1899–1999Related quotes
Introduction to The European Court of Justice: Judges or Policy Makers? (London: Bruges Group, 1990).
http://www.nzz.ch/2007/06/24/eng/article7955045.html, EU leaders hammer out treaty deal, Swissinfo / NZZ, 24 June 2007, 2007-06-26
2007
"To Lucasta on Going to the War — For the Fourth Time"
Fairies and Fusiliers (1917)
Nick Clegg, BBC Today Programme http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7201881.stm (22 January, 2008)
2008
Source: The Fight for Democracy – The Libertas Voice in Europe. (2009), p. 18
Interview with George Sylvester Viereck, 1923 https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/sep/17/greatinterviews1
1920s
Originial quote in french: Il ne peut y avoir de choix démocratique contre les traités européens, on ne peut pas sortir de l'euro sans sortir de l'Union européenne.
Jean-Claude Juncker, 'Greece: The dangerous game' http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31082656 (1 February 2015), from a french newspaper Le Figaro Jean-Claude Juncker : «Pas question de supprimer la dette grecque» http://www.lefigaro.fr/conjoncture/2015/01/28/20002-20150128ARTFIG00441-jean-claude-juncker-pas-question-de-supprimer-la-dette-grecque.php https://miscellanees01.wordpress.com/2016/04/16/il-ne-peut-y-avoir-de-choix-democratique-contre-les-traites-europeens/ (28 January 2015)
2015
“The fate of States decides theirs:
Clauses of treaties determine their affections.”
Le destin des Etats est arbitre du leur,
Et l'ordre des traités règle tout dans leur cœur.
Rodogune, act III, scene iv.
Rodogune (1644)
Preface to “Histoire de mon temps”, Works (1743), quoted in W. W. Coole (ed.), Thus Spake Germany (London: George Routledge & Sons, 1941), p. 82