National courts are also courts of the European Union

• Authors: Michal Tomášek
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ensures the uniform interpretation and application of European Union law. Its position as the court of the EU is explicitly and indisputably determined. The principle of the primacy of EU law over the domestic law of a Member State is considered one of the essential if not the essential requirement for the relationship between the separate legal orders: EU law on the one hand and domestic law on the other. Despite its unquestionable importance and unlike other principles developed by the CJEU, this primacy has never been incorporated in the founding treaties. The mechanism of references for preliminary ruling remains the primary means of dialogue between national courts and the CJEU. It enables the courts to maintain a harmonised interpretation of EU law and the use of the references by national courts is a good indicator of their relationship with the CJEU. It is noteworthy that the national courts have quickly embraced this instrument, thus the importance of the references for preliminary ruling exceeded the expectations of the framers of the Treaties in that originally they were intended as a complementary mechanism in the system of actions between the Member States and the Union bodies.

Keywords

EN

Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU); primacy of the EU law; effet utile; preliminary ruling; ultra vires doctrine

Discipline

• LAW_&_ADMINISTRATION: LAW & ADMINISTRATION

• Publisher: Institute of State and Law, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: The Lawyer Quarterly
• Year: 2024
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1-14
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Michal Tomášek

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