Abstract
The United Kingdom joined the European Communities in 1973, after two former unsuccessful attempts vetoed by France. In harmony with the UK's dualist approach towards the relationship between treaties and domestic law, the legal basis of EC/EU law application in the UK is the European Communities Act 1972 and its later amendments.
From the beginning, the cardinal issue for courts applying EC/EU law has been how to accommodate obligations stemming from this legal system, especially the respect for the principle of EC/EU law precedence over domestic law, with principles forming the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty pursuant to which, inter alia, courts have to obey the latest expression of parliamentary will in an Act of Parliament.