The Factortame saga is of recent vintage, but it has already entered the annals of United Kingdom constitutional law, European Community law and the Common Fisheries Policy. Factortame stemmed from alleged “quota hopping” by Spanish vessels in U.K. waters. However, it also raised fundamental issues concerning the relationship of United Kingdom law to European Community law, as well as contributing to a more general debate concerning relations between European Community law and the law of the Member States.

For most lawyers, the constitutional law aspects of Factortame assumed increasing prominence as the saga unfolded. Consequently it is not surprising that legal writing on the topic, with some exceptions, has concentrated primarily on constitutional issues. This trend was reinforced by the fact that similar questions have emerged with a vengeance in the discussions of the Maastricht Treaty. One unfortunate result, however, was the relative neglect of the implications of Factortame for the Common Fisheries Policy. This thorough review by A. E. Munir of the impact of Factortame on the EC Commission Fisheries Policy thus deserves a warm welcome, first because it fills the gap in the legal literature, and secondly because of its generally high quality. Part of the Butterworths Current Legal Developments series, the book is a veritable encyclopedia on the subject. The author, an Under Secretary at MAFF, makes good use of his knowledge both of United Kingdom and European Community constitutional law and of the administrative and economic aspects of the Common Fisheries Policy.

Though not neglecting the constitutional issues, the book focuses mainly on the post- Factortame dilemma with regard to fisheries policy, namely the extent to which the allocation of catch quotas to Member States is compatible with Art. 7 of the Rome Treaty prohibiting discrimination on grounds of nationality. It presents clearly the fundamental aspects of the Common Fisheries Policy, the development of relevant U.K. legislation, in particular the Merchant Shipping Act 1988, the effects of Factortame, structural policy, the operation of producer and marketing groups, and reflections concerning the future.

The text is complemented by very full appendices, which occupy about three-quarters of the book. The appendices include, for example: tables of total allowable catches; lists of cases, Community legislation and United Kingdom statutory instruments most relevant to the Common Fisheries Policy; the full text of selected Community secondary legislation; the full text of selected statutory instruments; and the full text of selected cases. The last comprise Case 3/87 Agegate, Case 216/87 Jaderow, Case C–213/89 Factortame (No. 1) and Case C–221/89 Factortame (No. 2). These documents, which of course are referred to in the text, enable the reader to reach independent conclusions with regard to the detailed legal points involved as well as questions of policy and also to evaluate the author’s arguments.

The book represents a most useful conjunction of author and publisher: an author with both legal expertise and a knowledge of the economic sector involved, and a publisher that