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International Law

Selected Works

2016

European Union

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Full-Text Articles in Law

National Legal Traditions At Work In The Jurisprudence Of The Court Of Justice Of The European Union: Symposium: Foreign Law In Constitutional Courts, Fernanda Nicola Dec 2015

National Legal Traditions At Work In The Jurisprudence Of The Court Of Justice Of The European Union: Symposium: Foreign Law In Constitutional Courts, Fernanda Nicola

Fernanda G. Nicola

Numerous scholars have commented on the judicial style of the Court of Justice of the European Union and its non-Herculean judges, generally disapproving of its minimalist reasoning, lack of transparency, and failure to draw openly on comparative legal sources to avoid inconsistencies and weaknesses in its legal reasoning. In a debate where both historians and sociologists have provided new avenues of research, the paucity of comparative lawyers is surprising because European law is a quintessential example of a transnational legal order. Since its inception, European judges, advocates general, and lawyers in Luxembourg have drawn inspiration from the different national legal …


Supranationalism And Foreign Law At The Court Of Justice Of The Eu Symposium: Foreign Law In Constitutional Courts: Introduction, Fernanda Nicola Dec 2015

Supranationalism And Foreign Law At The Court Of Justice Of The Eu Symposium: Foreign Law In Constitutional Courts: Introduction, Fernanda Nicola

Fernanda G. Nicola

By virtue of its peculiar position as the world’s first supranational court, the comparative legal method and the use of foreign law hold a particular significance for the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU, or “the Court”). This supranational characteristic, however, places the Court under an intense and unique set of judicial and political pressures. The Court must ensure the autonomy, exclusivity, and functioning of the EU’s legal order, while remaining sensitive to the fact that it is positioned as a central node in a network of national, international, and foreign courts that are profoundly affected by its …