... Dicey there is no limit to the legislative competence of Parliament; it is absolutely sovereign at its time and may legislate as it wishes on any topic, and for any place1. Perhaps the most striking example of what parliamentary supremacy can mean is illustrated in the fact that the Westminster Parliament could make law to make it a crime for French citizen to smoke on the streets of Paris2! However, what this example makes evident is the social and political limitations that prevent parliament from making such absurd legislation. The European Communities Act 1972 gave effect to British entry to the European Union. Section 2 (4) of the Act indicates that any legislation 'passed or to be passed...shall be construed and take effect subject to' the enforcement in the United Kingdom of directly effective rules of Community Law. This provision suggests that the courts should give such rules precedence ...

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