Foster_v_British_Gas_plc
Foster v British Gas plc (1990) C-188/89 is a leading EU law concerning the definition of the "state", for the purpose of determining which organisations in the private or public sector can be regarded as an organ of the state. The ECJ held a state is any manifestation or organisation under control of a central government.
In a previous case, Chandler v Director of Public Prosecutions,[1] Lord Reid held a state is synonymous with an 'organised community', and according to Lord Devlin it meant 'the organs of government of a national community'.