CELS Lunchtime Seminar: 'The Court of Justice of the European Union as an Institutional Actor: Judicial Lawmaking and its Limits'

Speaker: Dr Thomas Horsley, University of Liverpool 

Abstract:

The EU Treaties bind the Court of Justice of the European Union as an institution of the Union. But what does that mean for judicial lawmaking within the EU legal order? And how might any limits set out in the EU Treaties be effectively applied to the Court of Justice as lawmaker? 

This paper will interrogate these fundamental and underexplored questions at a critical juncture in European integration. It draws on the findings of the author’s recently published monograph (with Cambridge University Press, 2018) scrutinising the constitutional foundations of judicial lawmaking within the EU legal order. In summary, it will be argued that the legitimacy of EU judicial lawmaking should be measured, first and foremost, with reference to the EU Treaty framework. The EU Treaties should be considered to function as primary sources of normative restraint on the activities of all Union institutions – including the Court of Justice. The application of the EU Treaty framework to the Court of Justice offers powerful new insights into EU judicial lawmaking and its limits at a critical juncture in European integration.

Enquiries to: cels@law.cam.ac.uk