This book provides fresh perspectives in the legal study of the Court of Justice of the European Union. In the context of European studies, the Court has mainly been analysed in light of its central role in the process of continental integration. Moreover, the Court has traditionally been studied by specialists for its important role as an agent of comparative law. This book studies the evolution of the Court itself, rather than that of the EU legal order in its judge-made dimension, and addresses several institutional aspects of its structure and organization, selected and constructed as a complete range of symptomatic figures of judicial institutionalisation. In doing so, the author seeks to showcase how the development and the institutional evolution of the CJEU happened through a selective internalization of comparative influences.

How should judges of the European Court of Justice be selected, who should participate in the Court's proceedings and how should judgments be drafted? These questions have remained blind spots in the normative literature on the Court. This book aims to address them. It describes a vast, yet incomplete transformation: Originally, the Court was based on a classic international law model of court organisation and decision-making. Gradually, the concern for the effectiveness of EU law led to the reinvention of its procedural and organisational design. The role of the judge was reconceived as that of a neutral expert, an inner circle of participants emerged and the Court became more hierarchical. While these developments have enabled the Court to make EU law uniquely effective, they have also created problems from a democratic perspective. The book argues that it is time to democratise the Court and shows ways to do this.

This book explains the challenge of constitutional pluralism and its importance, showing its theoretical and practical relevance, and giving a sense of why the existing scholarship on the matter is unsatisfactory. The work explores how legal practitioners and theorists have faced the challenge of a society living under two constitutions at the same time. This comes as the European Union, which legally and politically integrates Europe and seems to challenge the view that no State can simultaneously abide by both the venerable national constitutions and the ever-developing EU constitutional law, is increasingly torn between calls for closer integration to face collective challenges and mounting Euroscepticism and nationalism. This work employs a strongly pluralist perspective and a comparative methodology, and looks at constitutional crises outside the EU to ground the claim that pluralism and conflicts are essential elements of modern constitutions. It shows how the challenge of constitutional pluralism depends on a mistaken interpretation of positivist theory and how the latter, reinterpreted in a manner close to legal realism, has the resources to explain pluralism. Finally, the book addresses the issue of constitutional conflicts within the EU: it examines in detail recent cases of open disobedience to EU law by national courts and distinguishes physiological conflict from constitutional pathology. This work will be of particular interest to students and academics in Law and Political Science. It will also be compelling reading for scholars in general jurisprudence, EU law, constitutional and comparative constitutional law, and the history of European integration.

The European Union is a key player in determining policies and politics in Europe, and yet understanding how it works remains a challenge. The Politics of the European Union introduces students to its functioning by showing the similarities and differences between the EU and national political systems. Fully revised and updated in its third edition, this introductory textbook uses the tools of comparative politics to explore the history, theories, institutions, key actors, politics and policy-making of the EU. This comparative approach enables students to apply their knowledge of domestic politics and broader debates in political science to better understand the EU. Numerous real-world examples guide students through the textbook, and chapter briefings, fact files and controversy boxes highlight the important and controversial issues in EU politics. A companion website features free 'Navigating the EU' exercises to guide students in their analysis of EU policy-making.

This book explores the theoretical origins, historical foundation, political meaning, and legal development of western constitutionalism, as well as the structure and transformation of constitutional law in the Western World. Introducing the historical background of western constitutional traditions, it links this rich, conceptual framework with the legal arrangements of states’ constitutions and the current trends of the internationalization of constitutional law. Serving as a comprehensive introduction to constitutional studies, this book provides detailed information on the design of legal systems, while addressing the main critical, theoretical issues raised by constitutionalism in western democracies and in the global landscape. This new, third edition covers a broader scope, reflecting recent political and legal transformations, and is enriched in terms of didactic instruments for university students.

In this book, leading scholars of EU law, judges, and practitioners unpack the judicial reasoning offered by the UK Advocates General in over forty cases at the Court of Justice, which have influenced the shape of EU law. The authors place the Opinions in the wider context of the EU legal order, and mix praise with critique in order to determine the true contribution of the UK Advocates General, before hearing the concluding reflections by the UK Advocates General themselves. The role of Advocates General at the Court of Justice of the European Union remains notoriously under-researched. With a few notable exceptions, not much ink has been spilled on analysing their contribution to the judicial discourse that emerges from the Court's Palais in Luxembourg. More generally, their impact on the shaping of EU law is only sporadically explored. This book fills the lacunae by offering an in-depth analysis of the way in which the UK Advocates General contributed to development of EU law during 47 years of the UK's membership of the EU. During their terms of office, Advocates General Jean-Pierre Warner (1973-1981), Gordon Slynn (1981-1988), Francis Jacobs (1988-2006), and Eleanor Sharpston (2006-2020) delivered over 1400 Opinions. This staggering contribution of the four individuals and their cabinets of legal secretaries was supplemented by an Opinion of a then Judge of the Court of First Instance, David Edward, who was called to act as an Advocate General in two joined cases in what is now the General Court. With the last UK Advocate General departing from the Court of Justice in September 2020, an important era has ended. With this watershed moment, it is apt to take a look back and critically analyse the contribution to development of EU law made by the UK Advocates General, and to elucidate the lasting impact they have had on the nature of EU law.

This book offers insights into the legal mechanisms that are adopted in multilevel constitutional orders to accommodate the tension between contrasting interests of diversity and unity and the converging or diverging effects they may have on the functioning of a multilevel constitutional order. It does so by targeting mainly the European experience but also drawing insights from other jurisdictions. The volume draws on a well-rounded theoretical framework that allows a comprehensive discussion of the dialectics in multi-level systems.) It focuses on two of the most relevant areas of constitutional law, namely the setup of supranational institutions and the protection of fundamental human rights. Finally, the work presents a fresh legal take on the unity-diversity dichotomy. This collection is ideal for academics working in the fields of constitutional law, international law, federal theory, institutional design, management and accommodation of diversity, and protection of fundamental rights. Political scientists will also find the discussions very relevant as a foundation for further research in their field. Policymakers involved in constitutional engineering will be interested, as mechanisms of accommodation, convergence, and divergence are increasingly looked at as devices for managing multilevel polities.