The European Courts and National Courts Doctrine and Jurisprudence

by Slaughter, Anne-Marie; Sweet, Alec Stone; Weiler, Joseph H. H.

• ISBN13: 9781901362268
• ISBN10: 1901362264
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-03-19
• Publisher: Hart Publishing

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Anne-Marie Slaughter is a Professor at Princeton University.
Alec Stone-Sweet is Professor of Law at the University of California.
Joseph Weiler is a University Professor at NYU and holder of the European Union Jean Monnet Chair. He is Director of the Global Law School Program at NYU Law School.

Table of Contents

Prologue	v	(16)
Contributors	xxi	(2)
Table of Cases	xxiii	(12)
Table of Legislation	xxxv
PART I: NATIONAL REPORTS	1	(226)
1. Report on Belgium	1	(40)
HERVE BRIBOSIA
General Introduction	1	(3)
Doctrinal Review	4	(24)
Conditions of domestic applicability	4	(2)
Direct applicability	6	(4)
Supremacy over conflicting domestic law	10	(11)
Kompetenz-Kompetenz	21	(7)
Contextual observations	28	(9)
"Specificity" of European Community law	28	(1)
Political and constitutional context	29	(4)
Evolution of jurisprudence	33	(4)
References	37	(4)
2. Report on France	41	(36)
JENS PLOTNER
The Reception of the Direct Effect and Supremacy Doctrine by the French Supreme Courts	41	(13)
Doctrinal development of the three supreme courts	42	(8)
Kompetenz-Kompetenz	50	(4)
The Social Context of Legal Change Concerning European Union Law in France	54	(23)
Chronology of the social context	55	(16)
The influence of doctrine on jurisprudence	71	(6)
3. Report on Germany	77	(56)
JULIANE KOKOTT
Introduction	77	(2)
Doctrinal Matrix	79	(3)
Constitutional law background	79	(2)
Doctrinal matrix before and after the Maastricht decision	81	(1)
Doctrine, Jurisprudence and Beyond	82	(47)
Doctrinal shifts of the Federal Constitutional Court's jurisprudence and their possible causes	82	(26)
The European Courts and national courts	108	(18)
Beyond doctrine	126	(3)
Conclusions	129	(4)
4. The Italian Constitutional Court and the Relationship Between the Italian Legal System and the European Union	133	(14)
MARTA CARTABIA
The theoretical bases of the Italian membership to the European Union	133	(2)
The Italian Constitutional Court case-law concerning the supremacy of European law: from the denial of supremacy to the supremacy under condition	135	(5)
The Italian Constitutional Court case-law concerning the direct effect of European law	140	(2)
The Italian Constitutional Court and the kompetenz-kompetenz principle	142	(2)
The contribution of "la doctrine" to the development of the Italian Constitutional Court's attitude towards European integration	144	(3)
5. Report on Italy	147	(24)
P. RUGGERI LADERCHI
Introduction	147	(1)
Beyond the Doctrine	148	(9)
The actors--judges	148	(4)
The actors--la doctrine	152	(3)
Cross-fertilisation	155	(2)
Looking back at the "Community path" of the Constitutional Court	157	(9)
The origin of the Constitutional Court's doctrine: a device used to avoid declaring the EC Treaty contrary to the Constitution	157	(9)
Error! Reference source not found--some observations on the post-Granital case law	166	(3)
The problem of competence	169	(2)
6. Report on the Netherlands	171	(24)
MONICA CLAES
BRUNO DE WITTE
The Dutch Sources of the European Court's Doctrine	172	(9)
Direct effect and supremacy of international treaties in the Netherlands prior to Van Gend en Loos	172	(6)
The influence of the Dutch legal order on the European Court's doctrine	178	(3)
The Reception of the European Court's Doctrine in the Netherlands	181	(6)
The Question of "Kompetenz-Kompetenz"	187	(1)
Beyond the Law: the Search for Explanations	188	(7)
The traditional openness of the Dutch legal system	188	(2)
Separation of powers and the judicial function	190	(1)
Judicial empowerment?	191	(1)
The comparative dimension as a factor in the explanation	192	(1)
Judicial dialogue	193	(1)
Legal pragmatism	194	(1)
7. Report on the United Kingdom	195	(32)
P.P. CRAIG
Constitutional Doctrine within the United Kingdom: the Impact of the EC	195	(11)
Supremacy: the traditional debate in the United Kingdom	195	(2)
Supremacy and the judicial response prior to Factortame	197	(3)
Supremacy and the Factortame litigation	200	(3)
Supremacy and Community law after Factortame	203	(1)
Direct effect	204	(1)
Preliminary rulings	205	(1)
"Kompetenz-Kompetenz": Practice and Doctrine	206	(3)
Doctrine, Jurisprudence and Beyond	209	(15)
Judicial identity, national identity and biting the constitutional bullet	209	(3)
The balance of power between different branches of government: the not-so-hidden agenda	212	(4)
Judicial empowerment, national courts and new tasks	216	(2)
The impact of legal culture: the common law method and the reception of community law	218	(2)
Judicial discourse: the vertical dimension	220	(2)
Judicial discourse: the horizontal dimension	222	(1)
Individual litigants: national courts and the ECJ	222	(1)
Judicial composition and the role of individual judges	223	(1)
Conclusion	224	(3)
PART II: COMPARATIVE ANALYSES	227	(166)
8. Explaining National Court Acceptance of European Court Jurisprudence: a Critical Evaluation of Theories of Legal Integration	227	(26)
KAREN ALTER
National Courts: the Critical Intermediaries in Legal Integration	227	(2)
Alternative Explanations of National Judicial Behaviour in Legal Integration	229	(17)
Legalism: legal logic and legal reasoning as the motor of legal integration	230	(4)
Neo-realism: national interests as the motor of legal integration	234	(4)
Neo-functionalism: self-interest as the motor of legal integration	238	(3)
Inter-court competition explanations: bureaucratic politics as the motor of legal integration	241	(5)
Conclusion: Legal Integration in a Comparative Political Perspective	246	(5)
Political support as a pre-condition for continued legal integration?	247	(2)
Preliminary ruling system and the ECJ as a pre-condition for continued legal integration?	249	(2)
References	251	(2)
9. The Role of National Courts in the Process of European Integration: Accounting for Judicial Preferences and Constraints	253	(24)
WALTER MATTLI
ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER
Introduction	253	(4)
The Role of National Courts in EC Legal Integration	257	(19)
Judicial preferences	259	(6)
Constraints on the process of legal integration	265	(11)
Conclusion	276	(1)
10. Sovereignty and European Integration: the Weight of Legal Tradition	277	(28)
BRUNO DE WITTE
Introduction	277	(4)
Sovereignty and the Demands of Community Law: the Development of "Peaceful Coexistence" (1945-1990)	281	(12)
Limitation of sovereignty as the constitutional basis of EC membership	281	(6)
Sovereignty as a limit to the reception of Community law	287	(6)
Sovereignty and the European Union: an Unavoidable Conflict?	293	(8)
The reassertion of state sovereignty in the aftermath of "Maastricht"	293	(8)
Sovereignty: resilient or obsolete?	301	(4)
11. Constitutional Dialogues in the European Community	305	(26)
ALEC STONE SWEET
Introduction	305	(1)
Constitutionalising the Treaty System	306	(6)
The process of constitutionalising the treaty system	306	(2)
Understanding constitutionalisation	308	(4)
Constitutional Dialogues: Three Problems of Supremacy	312	(13)
Supremacy and the problem of constitutional review	312	(5)
Supremacy and the problem of fundamental rights	317	(2)
Supremacy and the constitutional limits to integration	319	(5)
A preliminary assessment	324	(1)
A criticism	325	(1)
Constitutional Dialogues: Supremacy, Litigation and Policy-making	325	(5)
Study the case law of national courts	326	(1)
(Re)-specify judicial interests	327	(2)
Correlate judicial outcomes with factors external to the law	329	(1)
Study the behaviour of litigators	330	(1)
Conclusion	330	(1)
12. Constitutional or International? The Foundations of the Community Legal Order and the Question of Judicial Kompetenz-Kompetenz	331	(34)
J.H.H. WEILER
ULRICH R. HALTERN
13. Epilogue: The European Courts of Justice: Beyond "Beyond Doctrine" or the Legitimacy Crisis of European Constitutionalism	365	(28)
J.H.H. WEILER
Index	393