Search results

This chapter gives an original response to one of the central questions asked in this book: to what extent does the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) impact domestic political and legal systems and what are its implications? More specifically, how might the CJEU increase the impact of its rulings and legal mandates in national judiciaries and legal systems? This question is crucial if we understand that national courts are the key decentralised enforcers of the European Union (EU) law responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of EU law and the rulings and mandates imposed by the Court. EU scholars have already offered several legalist and institutionalist responses to why national courts participate in this process of legal integration in the EU and, most importantly, why the follow the mandates and rulings from the CJEU. This chapter innovates in this regard by introducing trust between judges as a new mechanism for enhancing the cooperation and compliance by national courts with the CJEU jurisprudence and EU legal mandates. The chapter describes the conditions under which national judges trust the CJEU to identify how the Court can promote trust in its role as a supreme adjudicator in the EU law system.

AbstractThis article aims to highlight the relevance of judicial trust in international courts, focusing on national judges' trust in the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). EU scholars have put a great deal of effort into explaining how legal and political factors affect the use of preliminary references by national courts. However, there is still a gap in the literature on the development of trust as a functional principle encouraging co‐operation between national and international courts. This article explores the nature, causes and potentials of judicial trust for the EU judicial system. A theory is offered in the article, which links national judges' trust in the CJEU to their corporatist identification and profile, to their attitudes towards the EU, and to their beliefs about the CJEU's ability to provide decisions that: 1) offer a clear guidance on European Union law, and 2) will not undermine Member States' legal order.

Publication based on research carried out in the framework of the European Union Democracy Observatory (EUDO) of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute.