Final note
With the last lecture in April 2009, this website has been
finished. It will stay available for the purpose of deepening and repetition.
With best wishes for a lot of fun and success in your future studies and
professional career, yours
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitz
Course description
A highly topic subject: The call of a
former president of the German Bundesverfassungsgericht to "stop the European
Court of Justice" challenges the exclusive right of the ECJ to decide in
disputes of competence and pleads for an intervention of the
Bundesverfassungsgericht in a given case. In an
article published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of 08.09.2008, p. 8
and in the EU
Observer of 10.09.2008, Roman Herzog and Lüder Gerken write: "The cases described show that the ECJ
deliberately and systematically ignores fundamental principles of the Western
interpretation of law, that its decisions are based on sloppy argumentation,
that it ignores the will of the legislator, or even turns it into its opposite,
and invents legal principles serving as grounds for later judgements." We will
go further into this question during our course.
In European law, the judiciary plays a
more important role in the development of law than in most national legal
systems. Many central legal norms and legal institutions are not based on
specific articles in the founding treaties but have been elaborated by the
European Court of Justice during decades of legal practice. This is true in
particular for the important general principles of Community law. Nevertheless,
European Law is not a case-law system as for instance the British common Law. It
is rooted in the continental legal tradition. For a European jurist of the 21st
century it is essential to know the European jurisprudence and to know how to
work with it. He must understand the broader functional and dogmatic context. He
must be able to assess the significance and the practical relevance of the
decisions, to question the applied methods and to critically evaluate the
contents.
This course will present the fundamental
decisions of the European Court of Justice. Furthermore, it will discuss
important decisions of the constitutional courts and the supreme courts of the
member states which concern the participation of the state in the process of
supranational integration. The knowledge about the different approaches and
perspectives in European and constitutional jurisprudence will provide the
participants with a deeper understanding of the interaction between European and
national law. The course is not confined to the contents of the decisions but
also aims at an analysis of the argumentation patterns, the applied
methods and the understanding of the courts of their perspective roles.
Apart from providing a broad knowledge, the course trains participants to become
conscious of the strong and weak points and the limits of legal argumentation.
In accordance with this course concept, frequent discussions build an integral
part of the course. Finally, the course will discuss if and in what respect the
Treaty of Lisbon, should it come into force,
will give rise to changes of the European Court's practice.
The course is organised together with the
DAAD lecturer at the University of Tartu,
Dr. Christoph Schewe, as a joint course
for students of the University of Latvia and the University of Tartu. The
joint project shall underline the strong link between the subject and the common
future of Latvia, Estonia and Germany in a united Europe. It also aims to
promote contacts between young Latvian and Estonian jurists and to
contribute to the building of networks in the Baltics.
The course follows the concept of block
lectures, which has proved successful at many European universities: After a
few separate introductory lectures, the main part of the course will take place
during two joint two-day meetings, one on March 6/7 in Rīga, the
other on March 27/28 in Tartu. To receive the credit points, participants have
to take part at both two-day meetings. The concentration on a coherent
subject for several days, far away from daily work routine, will allow a more
intense and fruitful work. In the evenings, the participants will have the
opportunity for comparative studies in student and cultural life (are there
better bars, clubs and parties in Tartu than in Rīga?).
The course addresses to students of all study programs
that are interested in European law. The two-day meetings are also open for
interested lecturers and legal practitioners, who are invited to join our
discussions.
Conditions:
The course is open for students of all faculties and also for
students of the Riga Graduate School of Law. In order to
get 2 credit points (B), participants are required to give a short own
presentation (concerning an important decision) or to pass a final examination.
Students at the Riga Graduate School of Law may achieve 2.5 credit points by
doing both. Students who do not need to get credit points are
also invited to participate on an informal basis.
Downloads (PDF
files)
 | Community
law as an independant (distinct) legal order
(Van
Gend & Loos, 1963, p. 23 ff.;
Busseni,
1990, no. 13 ff.;
Les
Verts, 1986, no. 23;
Foto-Frost, 1987, no. 15 ff.;
European
Economic Area I,
1991, no. 21) |
| The
direct applicability of Community law
(Van
Gend & Loos, 1963, p. 25 f.;
Leberpfennig
(Franz Grad),
1970, no. 5 ff.;
van
Duyn, 1974, no. 12 ff.;
Ratti,
1979, no. 19 ff.) |
| The
primacy of Community law
(Costa/ENEL,
1964, p. 1269 ff.;
Internationale
Handelsgesellschaft, 1970, no. 3 f.;
Simmenthal
II, 1978, no. 17 ff.;
Commission/Italian
Republic, 1986, Summary, 1) |
| The
implementation of Community law by the member states
(Deutscher
Milchkontor, 1983, no. 17 ff.; Harz
and Colson
and
Kamann, 1984, summary, 1; Factortame,
1990, no. 20 ff.; Zuckerfabrik
Süderdithmarschen, 1991, no. 16 f., 22 ff.; TA-Luft
(Commission/Germany),
1991, no. 20 f., 24;
vin de table (Commission/Germany), 1990,
no. 14 ff., 33; Alcan,
1997, no. 25, 34; see also the public lecture of
Rodríguez
Iglesias (in German), 1997) |
|
Directives
(Ratti,
1979, no. 19 ff.; Becker,
1982, no. 21 ff.;
Harz and Colson
and
Kamann, 1984, Summary, 1; Marshall
I, 1986, no. 48 ff.; Foster, 1990,
no. 19
f.; TA-Luft
(Commission/Germany),
1991, no. 20 f., 24; Inter-Environnement
Wallonie, 1997, no. 44 ff.; see also:
Vegetable Seed Directive (Commission/Italy),
1976, no. 11 ff.;
Public Procurement Directive (Commission/Germany),
1995, no. 18 ff.;
Großkrotzenburg
thermal power station (Commission/Germany), 1995, no. 24 ff.) |
| State liability
pursuant to Community law
(Francovich,
1991, no. 31 ff.; Brasserie
du Pêcheur/Factortame, 1996, no. 16 ff.; British
Telecommunications, 1996, no. 40 ff.; Dillenkofer,
1996, no. 23 ff.; Hedley
Lomas, 1996, no. 28;
Köbler, 2003, no. 32 ff., 51 ff.; see also the overview on the latest developments by Betlem/Pérez
González/Schoißwohl, Francovich Follow-Up, updated 2007 [see the
"Dossiers"]) |
|
Barents, Rene: Directory of
EC Case Law on Competition, 2007 |
|
Barents, Rene: Directory of
EC Case Law on State Aids, 2008 |
|
Boulois, Jean; Chevallier,
Roger-M.; Blanquet, Marc; Fasquelle, Daniel (editors): Les grands arrêts
de la jurisprudence communautaire, volume 2: Droit communautaire des
affaires, marché intérieur, politiques communautaires, 5th edition 2002 |
|
Emmert, Frank (editor):
European Union Law. Cases, 2001 |
|
Hummer, Waldemar; Vedder,
Christoph (editors): Europarecht in Fällen, 4th edition 2005 |
|
Kacsorowska, Alina
(Herausgeber): Law of the European Union. 150 Leading Cases, 3rd edition
2004 |
|
Levasseur, Alain A.; Scott,
Richard F.; Raynouard, Arnaud; Wathelet, Melchior: The Law of the
European Union, volume 2: Economic Law and Common Policies: Cases and
Materials, 2006, supplement 2007 |
|
Pechstein, Matthias (editor): Entscheidungen des Europäischen
Gerichtshofs. Studienauswahl, 4th edition 2007 |
|
Rambaud, Patrick: Les
grandes décisions de la jurisprudence communautaire, 2007 |
|
Schütz, Hans J.; Bruha,
Thomas; König, Doris: Casebook Europarecht, 2004 |
|
Tulkošanas un
terminoloģijas centrs (editor): Eiropas Kopienas Tiesas spriedumu
tulkojumi latviski (Latvian translation of important ECJ decisions) |
|
Turner, Chris: EU Law.
Key Cases, 2006 |
|
Weatherill, Stephen:
Cases
and Materials on EU Law, 8th edition 2007 |
|
Arnull, Anthony: The
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|
Brown, Neville; Kennedy, Tom:
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|
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des Europäischen Gerichtshofes als Verfassungsgericht der Europäischen
Union, Integration 1994, 215 |
|
Dederichs, Mariele: Die
Methodik des Gerichtshofes der Europäischen Gemeinschaften, Europarecht
2004, 345 |
|
Everling, Ulrich:
Richterliche Rechtsfortbildung in der Europäischen Gemeinschaft,
Juristenzeitung 2000, 217 |
|
Herzog, Roman;
Gerken, Lüder: Stop the European Court of Justice, EU Observer,
10.09.2008 [German
Version:
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 08.09.2008, p. 8] (the authors call for the
institution of an ECJ independent court for competence issues) |
|
Höreth, Marcus:
Stille Revolution im Namen des Rechts? Zur Rolle des
Europäischen Gerichtshofes (EuGH) im Prozess der europäischen Integration,
ZEI Discussion Paper C 78 (2000) |
|
Lasser, Mitchel:
Anticipating Three Models of Judicial
Control, Debate and Legitimacy: The European Court of Justice, the Cour de
cassation and the United States
Supreme Court, Jean Monnet Working Paper (JMWP) 1/2003 |
|
Lenz,
Carl Otto: Anmerkungen zu den Fällen aus dem Aufsatz von Prof.
Herzog „Stoppt den Europäischen Gerichtshof“ in der FAZ vom 8.9.2008,
WHI-Paper 01/2009 |
|
Reed, J.W.R.:
Political Review of the European Court of Justice and
its Jurisprudence, JMWP 13/1995 |
|
Rodríguez Iglesias, Gil Carlos:
Der EuGH und die Gerichte der Mitgliedstaaten - Komponenten der
richterlichen Gewalt in der Europäischen Union, Neue Juristische
Wochenschrift 2000, 1889 |
|
Rösler, Hannes: Die Zukunft
des Gerichtssystems der EU. Entwicklungstendenzen des EuGH zum Supreme Court
Europas, Zeitschrift für Rechtspolitik 2000, 52 |
|
Röttgen, Norbert: Die
Argumentation des Europäischen Gerichtshofes. Typik, Methodik, Kritik,
juristische Dissertation Bonn 2001 |
|
Weiler, Joseph H.H. Búrca,
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|
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|
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|
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Central Europe - Democracy - European Union, EUI Working Paper Law 2006/40 |
|
Siegel, Scott: Courts and Compliance in the European Union: The
European Arrest Warrant in National Constitutional Courts, Jean Monnet
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|
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|
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|
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|
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zum Gerichtshof der Europäischen Gemeinschaften (Saarbrücker Bibliothek) |
|
Cartabia, Marta: "Taking Dialogue Seriously". The Renewed Need for a
Judicial Dialogue at the Time of Constitutional Activism in the European
Union, JMWP 2/2007 |
|
Claes, Monica: The National
Courts' Mandate in the European Constitution, 2006 |
|
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und Integration: Der Konflikt zwischen Bundesverfassungsgericht und
Europäischem Gerichtshof über die Kontrolle der Gemeinschaftskompetenzen,
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|
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Europe?, Jean Monnet Working Paper 10/1998 |
|
Limbach, Jutta: Das
Bundesverfassungsgericht und der Grundrechtsschutz in Europa, Neue
Juristische Wochenschrift 2001, 2913 |
|
Mattli, Walter; Slaughter, Anne-Marie:
Constructing the European Community Legal System
from the Ground up: The Role of Individual Litigants and National Courts,
JMWP 6/1996 |
|
Mayer, Franz: The European
Constitution and the Courts - Adjudicating European constitutional
law in a multilevel system, JMWP 9/2003; see also
WHI-paper 15/2003
|
|
Pernice,
Ingolf: Das Verhältnis europäischer zu nationalen Gerichten im
europäischen Verfassungsverbund, WHI-Paper 05/2007 |
|
Craig, Paul; Búrca, Gráinne de:
EU Law. Text, Cases and Materials, 4th edition 2007 |
|
Díez Moreno, Fernando:
Manual de derecho de la Unión europea, 4th edition 2006 |
|
Fischer, Peter; Köck, Heribert
Franz; Karollus, Margit M.: Europarecht. Das Recht der EU/EG, des
Europarates und der wichtigsten anderen europäischen Organisationen, 4th
edition 2003 |
|
Lenaerts, Koen; Nuffel, Piet
van: Constitutional law of the European Union, 2nd edition 2005 |
|
Mangas Martín, Araceli; Liñán
Nogueras, Diego J.: Instituciones y derecho de la Unión Europea, 3rd
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|
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Europarecht, 3rd edition 2005 [see also the 2nd edition in Estonian
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|
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explications et commentaires, 2007 |
|
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|
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|
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van der: EC Competition Law Handbook 2008/2009, 2008 |
|
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(editors): Praxiswörterbuch Europarecht, 2008 |
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|
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|
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