Selecting Europe's Judges

Selecting Europe's Judges PDF

Author: Michal Bobek

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 019872778X

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"The past decade has witnessed changes in the ways judges for the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights are selected. The common aim has been securing greater professional quality of the judicial candidates. For this purpose, both European systems have put in place various advisory panels or selection committees that are called to evaluate the aptitude of the candidates put forward by the national governments. Were these institutional reforms successful in guaranteeing greater quality of the candidates? Might they have any positive impact on the legitimacy of the European courts? Has the creation of the expert advisory panels in any way shifted the institutional balance, either horizontally among the various institutions of the respective international organization, or vertically between the organization and its member state? Above all, however, is the spree of 'judicial comitology' as currently applied a good method of selecting Europe's judges? These and a number of other questions are addressed in this volume in a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. First, the volume describes for the first time in depth the operation of the new selection mechanisms from different vantage points, including not just academic, but also practitioners' points of view. Second, having mapped the ground, it critically engages with selected common themes in a comparative way, analyzing the new mechanisms with respect to values and principles such as democracy, judicial independence, transparency, representativeness, and legitimacy"--Unedited summary from book jacket.

Judging Europe’s Judges

Judging Europe’s Judges PDF

Author: Maurice Adams

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2014-07-18

Total Pages: 447

ISBN-13: 1782252312

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After successive waves of EU enlargement, and pursuant to the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Court of Justice finds itself on the brink of a new era. Both the institution itself and the broader setting within which it operates have become more heterogeneous than ever before. The issues now arriving on its docket are also often of great complexity, covering an unprecedented number of fields. The aims of this volume are to study the impact of these developments, examine the legitimacy of the Court's output in this novel context and provide an appraisal of its overall performance. In doing so, specific attention is paid to its most recent case law on four topics: the general principles of EU law, external relations, the internal market and Union citizenship. Featuring contributions by Maurice Adams, Henri de Waele, Johan Meeusen and Gert Straetmans, Koen Lenaerts, Ján Mazák and Martin Moser, Stephen Weatherill, Jukka Snell, Michael Dougan, Daniel Thym, Eileen Denza, Michal Bobek, and Joseph Weiler.

Judicial Independence

Judicial Independence PDF

Author: Carl Baudenbacher

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-01-30

Total Pages: 520

ISBN-13: 3030023087

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This book is about law, but it is not a law book. It is aimed at all interested contemporaries, lawyers and non-lawyers alike. Richly seasoned with personal memories and anecdotes, it offers unique insights into how European courts actually work. It is generally assumed that independence is part and parcel of the role and function of a judge. Nevertheless, European judges sometimes face difficulties in this regard. Owing to their being nominated by a government, their limited term of appointment, and the possibility of being reappointed or not, their judicial independence can be jeopardized. Certain governments have a track record of choosing candidates who they believe they can keep on a leash. When this happens, private parties are at risk of losing out. The EFTA Court is under even more pressure, since the EEA/EFTA states Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway essentially constitute a pond with one big fish (Norway) and two minnows. For quite some time now, certain Norwegian protagonists have sought to effectively transform the EEA into a bilateral agreement with the EU. This attitude has led to political implications that have affected the author himself. The independence of the EFTA Court is also endangered by the fact that it operates alongside a large sister court, the Court of Justice of the European Union. And yet the EFTA Court has established its own line of jurisprudence and its own judicial style. It has remained faithful to specific EFTA values, such as the belief in free trade and open markets, efficiency, and a modern view of mankind. During the first 24 years of its existence, it has even had an over-proportionate influence on ECJ case law. Since EEA Single Market law is economic law, the importance of economics, an often-overlooked aspect, is also addressed. In closing, the book explores Switzerland’s complicated relationship with, and Britain’s impending departure from, the EU. In this regard, it argues that the EFTA pillar should be expanded into a second European structure under British leadership and with Swiss participation.

Judicial Dis-Appointments

Judicial Dis-Appointments PDF

Author: Mitchel de S.-O.-l'E. Lasser

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2020-10-08

Total Pages: 481

ISBN-13: 0198868855

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In 2009 and 2010, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights underwent reforms to their judicial appointments processes, with the result that many of the candidates proposed by Member State governments were rejected. This book examines the rationale behind these reforms from the point of view of the Member States.

Selecting International Judges

Selecting International Judges PDF

Author: Ruth Mackenzie

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2010-06-17

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0199580561

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International courts are called upon to decide upon an increasingly wide range of issues of global importance, yet public knowledge of international judges and the process by which they are appointed remains very limited. Drawing on extensive empirical research, this book explains how the judges who sit on international courts are selected.

The Transformation or Reconstitution of Europe

The Transformation or Reconstitution of Europe PDF

Author: Tamara Perišin

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2018-03-08

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 1509907270

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It is generally understood that EU law as interpreted by the ECJ has not merely reconstituted the national legal matrix at the supranational level, but has also transformed Europe and shaken the well-established, often formalist, ways of thinking about law in the Member States. This innovative new study seeks to examine such a narrative through the lens of the American critical legal studies (CLS) perspective. The introduction explains how the editors understand CLS and why its methodology is relevant in the European context. Part II examines whether and how judges embed policy choices or even ideologies in their decisions, and how to detect them. Part III assesses how the ECJ acts to ensure the legitimacy of its decisions, whether it resists implementing political ideologies, what the ideology of European integration is, and how the selection of judges influences these issues. Part IV uses the critical perspective to examine some substantive parts of EU law, rules on internal and external movement, and the European arrest warrant. It seeks to determine whether the role of the ECJ has really been transformative and whether that transformation is reversible. Part V considers the role of academics in shaping the narratives of EU integration.

Perceptions of the Independence of Judges in Europe

Perceptions of the Independence of Judges in Europe PDF

Author: Frans van Dijk

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-12-14

Total Pages: 113

ISBN-13: 3030631435

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This open access book is about the perception of the independence of the judiciary in Europe. Do citizens and judges see its independence in the same way? Do judges feel that their independence is respected by the users of the courts, by the leadership of the courts and by politicians? Does the population trust the judiciary more than other public institutions, or less? How does independence of the judiciary work at the national level and at the level of the European Union? These interrelated questions are particularly relevant in times when the independence of the judiciary is under political pressure in several countries in the European Union, giving way to illiberal democracy. Revealing surveys among judges, lay judges and lawyers - in addition to regular surveys of the European Commission - provide a wealth of information to answer these questions. While the answers will not please everyone, they are of interest to a wide audience, in particular court leaders, judges, lawyers, politicians and civil servants.

Strengthen the Judiciary's Independence in Europe!

Strengthen the Judiciary's Independence in Europe! PDF

Author: Peter-Alexis Albrecht

Publisher: BWV Verlag

Published: 2009-01-01

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 3830517017

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HauptbeschreibungThe Consultative Council of European Judges at the Council of Europe (CCJE) rightly characterized judicial autonomy, that is, the independence of impartiality of the third state power, as a ""structured requirement of a state governed by the rule of law"" (cf. position no. 8 from no. 10/2007 in the appendix). To do justice to the principle of the separation of powers as an accomplishment of the European Enlightenment, the autonomy of the third power must be subject to the same basic principles throughout Europe as the European Union draws closer together. Until this.

The Power of the European Court of Justice

The Power of the European Court of Justice PDF

Author: Susanne K. Schmidt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-06-11

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 1317981294

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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has played a vital role in promoting the process of European integration. In recent years, however, the expansion of EU law has led it to impact ever more politically sensitive issues, and controversial ECJ judgments have elicited unprecedented levels of criticism. Can we expect the Court to sustain its role as a motor of deeper integration without Member States or other countervailing forces intervening? To answer this question, we need to revisit established explanations of the Court’s power to see if they remain viable in the Court’s contemporary environment. We also need to better understand the ultimate limits of the Court’s power – the means through which and extent to which national governments, national courts, litigants and the Court’s other interlocutors attempt to influence the Court and to limit the impact of its rulings. In this book, leading scholars of European law and politics investigate how the ECJ has continued to support deeper integration and whether the EU is experiencing an increase in countervailing forces that may diminish the Court’s ability or willingness to act as a motor of integration. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.

The European Court's Political Power

The European Court's Political Power PDF

Author: Karen Alter

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2010-06-17

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 0199595143

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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 andcurrent 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, withthe 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 thatthe 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.