Judges are faced with a wide and growing variety of issues, the contentiousness of which exceeds the borders of the legal domain. As a result of changes occurring in decision-making processes at the national, regional and global level, matters invoking political controversy, technical complexity and external relations are increasingly brought to court and framed in...
Negotiating sovereignty in the preliminary reference procedure
The organisation of the judiciary is close to the heart of any system of government. For that reason, the EU Member States have largely resisted surrendering regulatory power over judicial procedures and remedies to the Union level. In the absence of legislative action, it has fallen upon courts to manage the enforcement of Union rights...
Reviewing the experts: a principled approach to the scrutiny of expert-based decision making in the CJEU
Arguments grounded on separation of powers and contextual expertise suggest that courts should refrain from undertaking searching inquiries into complex factual backgrounds. Measures that are the result of expert-intensive decision making have therefore traditionally been subject to a light-touch judicial review by the European Courts. Interestingly, things may be changing, as the CJEU has been...
The role of the Court of Justice of the European Union in reviewing extraterritoriality
When courts are faced with questions regarding the territorial scope and regulatory reach of domestic legislation, they engage with complex political issues. These extend beyond traditional conceptions of state sovereignty and non-intervention on which the functioning of courts is typically based. This paper examines the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union...