Marguerite Johnston v. Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Case C-222/84, CJEU, 15 May 1986

Refusal of full-time employment as an armed member of a police force and of training in the handling of firearms for female police officers. Sexual discrimination.
 

Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February 1976 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions.

1. The national legislation that attributes to a certificate the value of irrefutable proof of the existence of the conditions for derogating from the principle of equal treatment between men and women deprives the individual of the possibility of asserting the rights attributed by Directive 76/207 in court and, consequently , violates the principle of effectiveness of judicial protection, as a principle recognized by the constitutional traditions of the member states, provided for by art. 6 of Directive 76/207 as well as by Articles 6 and 13 of the ECHR.

2. The principle of equal treatment between men and women is not subject to any general reservation with regard to measures motivated by the protection of public security. Therefore, any discrimination based on sex and carried out for reasons relating to the protection of public security must be examined in the light of the exceptions to the principle of equal treatment for men and women contemplated by Directive 76/207, which must in any case be interpreted strictly as they represent the limitation of an individual right.

3. The total exclusion of women from working as a police officer due to a risk of a general nature linked to that activity and not a risk specific to women for reasons of public security does not fall within the scope of the derogations provided for by the directive for the purposes of protection. of the woman.