COMMENT: The Insanity of the EU Bureaucrats and the European Court of Justice (ECJ – The Vnuk Case Summary: In August 2007 Slovenian Damijan Vnuk working on a farm was injured when the farmer who was parking his tractor and trailer in a barn accidentally reversed into the ladder Vnuk was up on. Vnuk sued for compensation to the amount of €15,944.10. Slovenian courts rejected his claims by saying that the tractor was at the time not being used as a method of transport but one of propulsion to manoeuvre the trailer attached. The case was then referred to the ECJ. In September 2014, the ECJ ruled in Vnuks favour interpreting the European Motor Insurance Directive to mean that any motor vehicle must have third party insurance regardless of whether they are on private or public land. In framing their judgment the ECJ (whose decision can not be appealed) extended the scope to the point where many other activities including motorcycle and motorsports are now affected, and because the ECJ is the highest court in the European Union there is no possibility of appeal. This now means in theory that any motorized vehicle used on any type of private or public land must be covered by third party insurance. As well as affecting all motorsport vehicles, it could affect electric bicycles, sit-on lawnmowers, golf buggies, mobility scooters, segways and even motorised ride-on children’s toys. The seriousness of the situation prompted the UK’s Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) in December 2016 to issue a stark warning that British motorsport could end due to the EU ruling.
KMS
REPLY: This is how judges seriously alter the entire economy. They make decisions that are then so broadly applied that they really change everything and defeat democracy. In the USA, Congress NEVER made taxes apply to worldwide income. That was simply the Supreme Court ruling that Congress did not exempt it so they must have included it. This type of interpretation seriously disrupts everything. This is what Justice Scalia was against and he employed what is called “STRICT CONSTRUCTION” meaning if it does not expressly authorize something, then the court has no power to expand the interpretation. This is what the ECJ has just done and it will drastically alter the European economy compelling everyone to get insurance on everything.
The judiciary MUST be stopped. It must be restricted to Strict Construction, for otherwise, judges get to create laws based solely upon what they think. This eliminates any possible democratic process. It is effectively Judicial Tyranny. If a law does not expressly apply to something, it should not be interpreted to apply by judges. Put this on the list of structural reforms we MUST incorporate after the Crash and Burn.
