ABSTRACT
Primary sources The Treaties are the primary, and therefore the highest, source of EC law and lay down goals to be achieved by the Member States. Treaties are made up of a number of Articles, eg Article 141 of the Treaty of Rome 1957, which requires Member States to ensure and subsequently maintain the principle that men and women should receive equal pay for equal work. In McCarthy’s Ltd v Smith (1980), a woman stockroom manager was paid less than the man she had replaced. The ECJ ruled that the basic principle of equal pay for equal work had not been applied.
