The essays comprising this volume are the outcome of a major and unique project which looks in detail at the application of EC law by national courts and the interaction of the demands of EC law with the constraints imposed by national legal orders and,especially, national constitutional orders. The volume comprises seven country studies which are shaped around a common research protocol. These are supplemented by three cross-cutting studies which draw on the country studies as well as on broader contextual research work aimed at trying to understand the role of the European Court of Justice in the round. The results of this multi-national research are certain to provoke widespread interest among scholars of European law, international law and European politics, for they offer the first systematic and rigorous attempt to assess the impact of the ECJ among the leading member states of the European Union.

This innovative book examines why national courts refer preliminary references to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), and what the referring court does with the answers. Jasper Krommendijk highlights the three core stages in the interaction between national courts and the ECJ: question, answer and follow-up, shedding new light on this under-explored area.

Karen Alter's work on the European Court of Justice heralded a new level of sophistication in the political analysis of the controversial institution, through its combination of legal understanding and active engagement with theoretical questions. The European Court's Political Power assembles the most important of Alter's articles written over a fourteen year span, adding an original new introduction and a conclusion that takes an overview of the Court's development and current concerns. Together the articles provide insight into the historical and political contours of the ECJ's influence on European politics, explaining how and why the impact of an institution can vary so greatly over time and access different issues. The book starts with the European Coal and Steel Community, where the ECJ was largely unable to facilitate greater member state respect for ECSC rules. Alter then shows how legal actors orchestrated an activist transformation of the European legal system, with the critical aid of jurist advocacy movements, and via the co-optation of national courts. The transformation of the European legal system wrested control from member states over the meaning of European law, but the ECJ continues to have varying influence across different issues. Alter explains that the differing influence of the ECJ comes from the varied extent to which sub- and supra-national actors turn to it to achieve political objectives. Looking beyond the European experience, the book includes four chapters that put the ECJ into a comparative perspective, examining the extent to which the ECJ experience is a unique harbinger of the future role international courts may play in international and comparative politics.

Expert representatives of all member states of the EEC met in The Hague in 1985 to discuss ''Experiences and problems in applying the preliminary proceedings of Article 177 EEC''. All categories of practitioners were present; at the national level (judges, counsel, government agents) and at the European level (Commission, Council, European Parliament and the Court of Justice). The importance of the preliminary procedure of article 177 EEC for the development of the legal order of the European Communities is undisputed. It is the most effective means available to individuals and companies of ensuring the respect of the national authorities of the rights which they enjoy under Community law (freedom of movement of goods, persons, services and capital, common policies, etc.). Without detracting from the success of the preliminary procedure, certain deficiencies do exist. To a large extent these may be attributed to the workload of the Court of Justice, which has led to a considerable increase in the delay for obtaining a preliminary ruling. It is felt that there is a growing need to streamline the procedure before the court. This volume is a comprehensive and authoritative survey of experiences with the preliminary procedure, and should be of great academic and practical value.

Appearing at a time when the ancient problem of the individual versus the state once again occupies the minds of thinking Europeans, this important new book thoroughly evaluates the judicial system of the European Union, fully describing the nature of the judicial protection available to individuals, undertakings, and member States. With attention to the rapid and continuing development of the Community legal order, Schermers and Waelbroeck provide a much-needed perspective on the reasoning of the European Court of Justice in significant decisions, especially recent cases, and shed revealing light on how the rule of law may develop in future. An introductory chapter offers a masterful description of how Treaty provisions, Community acts, international law, and national legal orders interact in the procedures and decisions of the Court of Justice. Further chapters provide analysis and insight into such matters as the following: the crucial role of national courts as guarantors of the rights of individuals in Community law the validity of acts taken by Community institutions and member States, and protection against them the delivery of non-judicial opinion and other tasks of the Court of Justice the composition, function, and rules of procedure of the Court the organisation of the Court of First Instance and the appeal procedure against its decisions. Judicial Protection in the European Union is organised to facilitate its prodigious reference value. All important cases are examined, and abundant footnotes clearly indicate relevant precedents in each case. This is a fundamental source for students of European law, as well as a basic reference for practitioners and a valuable analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the European system of judicial protection.

The European Court of Human Rights has long been part of the most advanced human rights regime in the world. However, the Court has increasingly drawn criticism, with questions raised about its legitimacy and backlog of cases. This book for the first time brings together the critics of the Court and its proponents to debate these issues. The result is a collection which reflects balanced perspectives on the Court's successes and challenges. Judges, academics and policymakers engage constructively with the Court's criticism, developing novel pathways and strategies for the Court to adopt to increase its legitimacy, to amend procedures to reduce the backlog of applications, to improve dialogue with national authorities and courts, and to ensure compliance by member States. The solutions presented seek to ensure the Court's relevance and impact into the future and to promote the effective protection of human rights across Europe. Containing a dynamic mix of high-profile contributors from across Council of Europe member States, this book will appeal to human rights professionals, European policymakers and politicians, law and politics academics and students as well as human rights NGOs.

Ensuring the protection of human rights in Europe has become a highly complex exercise. Where courts are faced with a human rights claim, they not only have to examine the validity of that claim, but they also need to have a clear understanding of the human rights catalogue that is to be applied (i.e. human rights as guaranteed by the national constitution, human rights as protected under EU law, based or not on the Charter, and human rights as identified in the European Convention of Human Rights). This book zooms in on various aspects of the interaction between courts in the complex European system of human rights protection. While other books take either a European or a national approach, this book studies both the co-existence between the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice, and the impact of this dual mechanism of European human rights protection on the protection offered within specific EU Member States. This makes the book valuable for academics and practitioners who specialize in fundamental rights, EU law, or constitutional law. (Series: Law and Cosmopolitan Values - Vol. 1)