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FRIHUMSAM-Fri prosj.st. hum og sam

EUI - The Political Power of European Case Law and the CJEU

Awarded: NOK 2.2 mill.

Project Number:

303911

Project Period:

2019 - 2022

International courts and tribunals are institutions that hold authority over the interpretation of international agreements, and that therefore play a central role in modern-day international cooperation. Among the most powerful international courts is the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which has proven itself to be a central actor in the development of European Union law. The establishment of international courts is commonly driven by a wish of participating states that the new institution shall reflect the interests of the signing states, for example by ensuring that all signatory states are represented equally among the judges of the court. Despite these initial concerns of the signing states, institutional drift and the autonomy of courts entails that courts can develop to hold changing positions of power over time, growing more or less powerful than what was initially envisioned by the establishing states. The CJEU, which was originally established as part of the European Coal and Steel Union in 1952, has faced great changes over it's almost 70 year long lifespan. This project sets out to study the political power and strategies of the CJEU, and the implications of this power for cooperation between Member States. By studying the role of the CJEU in the distribution of power in the European Union, this project seeks to contribute to the development of increasingly legitimate international courts. It contributes directly by increasing the transparency of the role of the CJEU in the distribution of power in Europe, and indirectly by drawing lessons from the CJEU on how to best design legitimate and efficient international courts. By exposing strategies and mechanisms in the CJEU's relation to its political context, the project opens up for a critical review of its work, but also lessons for best practice for other courts seeking to position themselves on the international stage. The project draws from quantitative empirical analysis of the work of the CJEU from the mid-50s until today, and seeks to build a holistic image of a Court that is often understood through individual judgments rather than as the sum of its work. The data base is being made publicly available, promoting further empirically informed studies of the work of the CJEU. The work consists of a series of articles. Two of these, which have already been published, regard the orders published by the CJEU. The first introduces orders published by the Court as a window into its procedural work, allowing for an improved understanding of the procedural nature of the CJEU over time. The second studies one particular type of order, coined as "adjudicating orders", which serve as judgments in all but name. These orders provide a faster and procedurally less taxing response to questions referred from national courts, and are found to be used by the CJEU as a part of its tool case in the judicial dialogue with national courts. The procedure might, however, change the nature of the relationship between national courts and the CJEU. Further articles concern how the work of the CJEU is affected by political cues, its use of deference to national courts, and how different procedures for the appointment of judges by European member states could affect the division of power in Europe.

Prosjektet bidrar på flere måter til forskning på EU-domstolen og til en viss grad internasjonale domstoler generelt. Hovedproduksjonen er så klart direkte gjennom artiklene, men jeg bidrar også gjennom produksjon og tilgjengeliggjøring av data. Som en del av IUROPA-prosjektet ( https://iuropa.pol.gu.se/ ) har jeg tatt del i produksjon, publikasjon, og tilgjengeliggjøring av en rekke kilder for videre forskning. Størst er "the CJEU database platform", som er en holistisk database over EU-domstolens beslutninger. Videre har jeg bidratt med teknisk kompetanse for et dataprosjekt ledet av Urška Šadl ved EUI, hvor informasjon om domsavsigelser håndkodes av eksperter. Jeg samarbeider også med Anna Wallerman (Gøteborg) og Tom Pavone (Arizona) om et datasett over nasjonale domstoler, som kan knyttes opp mot databasen over EU-domstolen. Alle data knyttet til disse prosjektene vil bli offentliggjort gjennom IUROPA-rammeverket, og samtlige datasett benyttes i min egen avhandling.

This project will explore the role played by international courts in the judicialisation of politics, focusing on the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The project revolves specifically around the impact of CJEU case law, seeking to map its influence in different policy fields on both the European and national level. The goal is to develop a theoretical framework for explaining the scope of the Court’s case law, and to test this framework and its implications using social science methodology. I identify three central questions about the development and legislative influence of CJEU case law, which I will seek to answer using advanced empirical methods: 1. Which processes drive the expansion CJEU case law in different areas? 2. How do central actors influence, or seek to influence, the body of CJEU case law? 3. How does the alleged over-constitutionalism of the CJEU affect the Court’s influence over national and EU legislatures?

Funding scheme:

FRIHUMSAM-Fri prosj.st. hum og sam