Essential Cases: EU Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in Srl CILFIT and Lanificio di Gavardo SpA v Ministry of Health (Case 283/81), EU:C:1982:335, [1982] ECR 3415, 6 October 1982. The document also includes supporting commentary from author Noreen O'Meara.
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Srl CILFIT and Lanificio di Gavardo SpA v Ministry of Health (Case 283/81), EU:C:1982:335, [1982] ECR 3415, 6 October 1982
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Foto-Frost v Hauptzollamt Lübeck-Ost (Case C-314/85), EU:C:1987:452, [1987] ECR 4199, 22 October 1987
Essential Cases: EU Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in Foto-Frost v Hauptzollamt Lübeck-Ost (Case C-314/85), EU:C:1987:452, [1987] ECR 4199, 22 October 1987. The document also includes supporting commentary from author Noreen O'Meara.
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Cartesio (Case C-210/06), EU:C:2008:723, [2008] ECR I-9641, 16 December 2008
Essential Cases: EU Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in Cartesio (Case C-210/06), EU:C:2008:723, [2008] ECR I-9641, 16 December 2008. The document also includes supporting commentary from author Noreen O’aMeara.
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8. Jurisdictional Sovereignty
A State’s administrative, judicial, executive and legislative activity is part of the exercise of its sovereignty, sometimes known as its jurisdictional sovereignty. This chapter examines the objects of a State’s jurisdictional sovereignty (both natural and legal persons) and the circumstances in which it may be exercised. It considers the general principles of jurisdiction; grounds for the assertion of jurisdiction by national courts; and state jurisdiction and persons apprehended in violation of international law.
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3. Preliminary rulings
Article 267 TFEU
Matthew J. Homewood and Clare Smith
This chapter discusses Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Article 267 TFEU gives the Court of Justice jurisdiction to deliver preliminary rulings on the validity and interpretation of EU law. The primary purpose of Article 267 is to ensure that EU law has the same meaning and effect in all the Member States. Where it considers a decision on a question of EU law is necessary to enable it to give judgment, any court may refer that question to the Court of Justice (the discretion to refer). Where a question of EU law is raised before a national court of last resort, that court must refer it to the Court of Justice (the obligation to refer).
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9. The Application of EU Law: Remedies in National Courts
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines the application of EU law by national courts and the way in which the CJEU controls national remedies for breach of EU law. Article 19 of the Treaty on European Union contains a new clause added by the Lisbon Treaty, which specifies that ‘Member States shall provide remedies sufficient to ensure effective legal protection in the fields covered by Union law.’ Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights provides that ‘[e]veryone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article’. However, beyond these broad new provisions, EU law does not lay down any general scheme of substantive or procedural law governing remedies for its enforcement. The European Court of Justice has responded to the lack of a harmonized system of EU remedies by requiring national courts, in certain cases, to make available a particular type of remedy (e.g. restitution or interim relief), regardless of whether this would be available under national law. The UK version contains a further section analysing issues concerning remedies and EU law in relation to the UK post-Brexit.
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9. The Application of EU Law: Remedies in National Courts
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines the application of EU law by national courts and the way in which the CJEU controls national remedies for breach of EU law. Article 19 of the Treaty on European Union contains a new clause added by the Lisbon Treaty, which specifies that ‘Member States shall provide remedies sufficient to ensure effective legal protection in the fields covered by Union law.’ Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights provides that ‘[e]veryone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article’. However, beyond these broad new provisions, EU law does not lay down any general scheme of substantive or procedural law governing remedies for its enforcement. The European Court of Justice has responded to the lack of a harmonized system of EU remedies by requiring national courts, in certain cases, to make available a particular type of remedy (e.g. restitution or interim relief), regardless of whether this would be available under national law. The UK version contains a further section analysing issues concerning remedies and EU law in relation to the UK post-Brexit.
Chapter
9. The Application of EU Law: Remedies in National Courts
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines the application of EU law by national courts and the way in which the CJEU controls national remedies for breach of EU law. Article 19 of the Treaty on European Union contains a new clause added by the Lisbon Treaty, which specifies that ‘Member States shall provide remedies sufficient to ensure effective legal protection in the fields covered by Union law’. Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights provides that ‘[e]veryone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article’. However, beyond these broad new provisions, EU law does not lay down any general scheme of substantive or procedural law governing remedies for its enforcement. The European Court of Justice has responded to the lack of a harmonized system of EU remedies by requiring national courts, in certain cases, to make available a particular type of remedy (e.g., restitution or interim relief), regardless of whether this would be available under national law. The UK version contains a further section analysing issues concerning remedies and EU law in relation to the UK post-Brexit.
Chapter
9. The Application of EU Law: Remedies in National Courts
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines the application of EU law by national courts and the way in which the CJEU controls national remedies for breach of EU law. Article 19 of the Treaty on European Union contains a new clause added by the Lisbon Treaty, which specifies that ‘Member States shall provide remedies sufficient to ensure effective legal protection in the fields covered by Union law’. Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights provides that ‘[e]veryone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article’. However, beyond these broad new provisions, EU law does not lay down any general scheme of substantive or procedural law governing remedies for its enforcement. The European Court of Justice has responded to the lack of a harmonized system of EU remedies by requiring national courts, in certain cases, to make available a particular type of remedy (e.g., restitution or interim relief), regardless of whether this would be available under national law. The UK version contains a further section analysing issues concerning remedies and EU law in relation to the UK post-Brexit.
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6. Recognition of states and governments
This chapter begins with a discussion of the ‘declaratory’ and ‘constitutive’ views of recognition. According to the declaratory view, the legal effects of recognition are limited: recognition is a declaration or acknowledgement of an existing state of law and fact, legal personality having been conferred previously by operation of law. The declaratory theory of recognition is opposed to the constitutive view, according to which the political act of recognition is a precondition of the existence of legal rights: in its extreme form this implies that the very personality of a state depends on the political decision of other states. Discussion then turns to the distinction between recognition of states and recognition of governments, collective non-recognition and sanctions, and issues of recognition before national courts.
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13. The Relationship between International and National Law
Eileen Denza
This chapter examines the relationship between international and national law. It discusses the approach of international courts and tribunals; the approach of national parliaments and national courts; and some problems that arise in national courts. While prospects for a harmonized approach to the relationship between international and national law are dim, conflict can be avoided through the close involvement of international lawyers in the treaty-making and ratification process; attention at the time of ratification to implementation questions; the teaching of international law as part of the professional training of judges; and expert assistance to national courts when international law questions arise.
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14. The Relationship between International and National Law
Eileen Denza
This chapter examines the relationship between international and national law. It discusses the approach of international courts and tribunals; the approach of national parliaments and national courts; and some problems that arise in national courts. While prospects for a harmonized approach to the relationship between international and national law are dim, conflict can be avoided through the close involvement of international lawyers in the treaty-making and ratification process; attention at the time of ratification to implementation questions; the teaching of international law as part of the professional training of judges; and expert assistance to national courts when international law questions arise.
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6. Preliminary references
Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter considers the procedure whereby a national court may make a preliminary reference to the Court of Justice under Article 267 TFEU and receive a preliminary ruling on the questions which it has referred. The chapter examines the questions of law that may be referred to the Court of Justice; the criteria for the ‘court or tribunal’ which may make a reference; from which courts a reference is discretionary and from which it will be mandatory; references concerning the interpretation and validity of EU law; national courts’ decision-making process in preliminary references and the relevant guidelines and exceptions; procedures in the Court of Justice for dealing with preliminary references under Article 267 TFEU; and the effects of a preliminary ruling.
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8. Jurisdictional Sovereignty
A State’s administrative, judicial, executive and legislative activity is part of the exercise of its sovereignty, sometimes known as its jurisdictional sovereignty. This chapter examines the objects of a State’s jurisdictional sovereignty (both natural and legal persons) and the circumstances in which it may be exercised. It considers the general principles of jurisdiction; grounds for the assertion of jurisdiction by national courts; and state jurisdiction and persons apprehended in violation of international law.
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11. Aggression
This chapter focuses on the crime of aggression. It first traces the historical development crime of aggression. It then addresses the question of who can be considered a perpetrator of the crime; outlines the manner in which the crime can be committed; examines the controversial question of how ‘aggression’ is to be defined for the purposes of the offence; and distinguishes between aggression and lawful uses of military force in international law. The remainder of the chapter discusses some controversial cases of the use of force and whether they might constitute aggression; outlines the mental element required; explains the applicable law before the International Criminal Court (ICC); and explores the possibility of prosecuting acts of aggression before national courts.
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7. National Actions
This chapter addresses the indirect enforcement of European law through the national courts. The core duty governing the decentralized enforcement of European law by national courts is rooted in Article 4(3) TEU: the duty of ‘sincere cooperation’. The chapter explores two specific constitutional principles that the European Court has derived from the general duty of sincere cooperation: the principle of equivalence and the principle of effectiveness. Both principles have led to a significant judicial harmonization of national procedural laws. The chapter then considers the State liability principle, and looks at the procedural bridge that exists between national courts and the European Court of Justice. For from the very beginning, the European Treaties contained a mechanism for the interpretative assistance of national courts: the preliminary reference procedure.
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11. International Law and Restraints on the Exercise of Jurisdiction by National Courts of States
Philippa Webb
This chapter examines the methods by which States prevent their national courts from deciding disputes that relate to the internal affairs of another State. It considers three main ‘avoidance techniques’: State immunity, act of State, and non-justiciability. It discusses the arguments for and against the current prohibition on the determination of one State’s disputes in the national courts of another State, and identifies the challenges presented by the rule of law, an individual’s right of access to court, and the implementation of jus cogens norms to the maintenance of these avoidance techniques. It concludes with the observation that the pendulum continues to swing between prioritizing sovereignty by protecting the activities of States from judicial scrutiny and calling for greater accountability and remedies for violations of international law.
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12. The Right to a Fair Trial in Civil and Criminal Cases
This chapter examines the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on the right to a fair trial in criminal and civil cases, explaining that Article 6 of ECHR holds that the Strasbourg Court has no jurisdiction to reopen national legal proceedings or to substitute its own findings of fact for the conclusions of national courts. The chapter examines the interpretation by the Strasbourg Court of the protections provided by Article 6 in the extensive jurisprudence on this Article and discusses issues concerning the overall requirements of a fair hearing, right of access to court, and the extraterritorial effect of Article 6.
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4. Governmental Structure
Union Institutions II
This chapter focuses on the internal composition, internal powers, and internal procedures of the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Court of Auditors. The Commission constituted the centre of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), where it was ‘to ensure that the objectives set out in [that] Treaty [were] attained’. In guiding the European Union, it acts (together with the European Council) like the Union’s ‘government’. The CJEU constitutes the judicial branch of the European Union. However, it is not the only one to interpret and apply European law. From the very beginning, the European legal order intended to recruit national courts in the interpretation and application of European law. Meanwhile, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) defines the ‘primary objective’ of the European Central Bank as the maintenance of price stability. Finally, the Court of Auditors is staffed by accountants, whose primary task is to ‘carry out the Union’s audit’.
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7. Ancillary rights
Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, discussion points, and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter focuses Convention rights that are considered ancillary by virtue of the fact that they do not in themselves establish any substantive human rights but are relevant to the way the substantive rights are put into effect. Specifically, the chapter discusses Article 14, which prohibits discrimination in the way Convention rights and freedoms are secured; Article 15, which allows states to derogate from their responsibilities under certain circumstances; Article 16, which allows states to restrict the political activities of aliens; Article 17, which authorises the ECtHR and national courts to refuse to uphold the rights of those who would use them to undermine the rights of others; and Article 18, which insists that rights and freedoms in the Convention can be restricted and qualified.
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