Constitutionalising The Eu Judicial System

These essays, written in honour of retired ECJ judge Pernilla Lindh, reflect on the development of courts and judging in the EU since the founding of the Union. In particular they focus on recent reforms and proposals aimed at further increasing public confidence and democratic accountability throughout the EU judicial system.

These essays, written in honour of retired ECJ judge Pernilla Lindh, reflect on the development of courts and judging in the EU since the founding of the Union. In particular they focus on recent reforms and proposals aimed at further increasing public confidence and democratic accountability throughout the EU judicial system.

The European Union is in a state of transformation with its constitutional future the subject of much heated debate. This book provides a durable, authoritative and comprehensive account of constitutional development, examining the pivotal roles of law and judicial politics in establishing the EU constitutional edifice. Michael Longo demonstrates and substantiates the arguments for and against constitutionalization through the development of a theoretical framework drawing on theories and empirical research in both law and political science to understand this new process of European integration.

Introduction -- Constitutional mo(u)rning -- Retelling the legal integration story -- Forgetting law -- Adjudicating non-authoritative law -- Constitutionalising the institutional balance of powers -- The principled judicial mechanics of constitutional morphogenesis -- Constitutionalism beyond constitutions.

National Courts and EU Law examines both how and why national courts and judges are involved in the process of legal integration within the European Union. As well as reviewing conventional thinking, the book presents new legal and empirical insights into the issue of judicial behaviour in this process. The expert contributors provide a critical analysis of the key questions, examining the role of national courts in relation to the application of various EU legal instruments.

This book contains a collection of articles on different aspects of EU law written by one of Europe's most distinguished jurists during the past twenty years, some of which appear here for the first time in English. The book includes a Preface by Judge Koen Lenaerts, Vice-President of the European Court of Justice. The book is divided into five parts, covering EU constitutional law, the EU's judicial architecture, access to justice, European competition law and various other aspects of substantive EU law. In the field of EU constitutional law, the central text discusses the existence of implied material limits to the revision of the Treaties. The author argues that the powers of the Member States to amend the Treaties is limited by the existence of a hard core of principles of EU Treaty law, which cannot be revised without changing the 'constitutional' identity of the Union, leading to the conclusion that Member States can no longer be considered as the 'absolute masters of the Treaties'. Four articles relating to the EU's judicial system constitute the cornerstone of the collection. Drawing on his own experiences, the author examines the problems and challenges facing the setting up of a new EU court and explores different lines of reform of the EU judicial system.

These essays, written in honour of retired ECJ judge Pernilla Lindh, reflect on the development of courts and judging in the EU since the founding of the Union. In particular they focus on recent reforms and proposals aimed at further increasing public confidence and democratic accountability throughout the EU judicial system.

Judicial review constitutes an important aspect of any legal system operating under the rule of law. This book provides a comprehensive account of judicial review in EU law by assessing the vast and complex case-law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in this area and the academic opinion which has accompanied its rulings over the years. It questions the prevalent view in academic literature that the Court's restrictive approach to allowing individuals direct access to the Community Courts, in case of a challenge against normative acts, amounts to a denial of an effective remedy. The author argues that the emerging constitutional nature of the European Union and its federal structure requires a more balanced view. While it will improve direct access for individuals to the Union's judiciary, the Lisbon Treaty will not radically alter the system of judicial review in the European Union.