Suchergebnisse

Introduction : Federalism's Janus face / Elke Cloots, Geert De Baere and Stefan Sottiaux -- EU federalism in 3-D / Koen Lenaerts -- Federalism and jurisdiction / Pavlos Eleftheriadis -- Federalism, the EU and international law : on the possible (and necessary) role of subsidiarity in legitimate multilevel trade governance / Alexia Herwig -- The Court of Justice as a federal constitutional court : a comparative perspective / Monica Claes and Maartje de Visser -- The dual system of rights protection in the European Union in light of US federalism / Aida Torres Perez -- Federalism and international relations in the European Union and the United States : a comparative outlook / Geert De Baere and Kathleen Gutman -- European ties that bind : political or cultural? / Helder De Schutter -- Does EU decision-making take into account regional interests? / Piet Van Nuffel -- The role of sub-state entities in the EU decision-making processes : a comparative constitutional law approach / Nikos Skoutaris -- Autonomous constitutional regions in a federal Europe / Joxerramon Bengoetxea -- The European Court of Justice and the devolution of taxation powers / Suzanne Kingston -- The impact of EU law on the devolution of social powers in the member states / Herwig Verschueren -- EU law and language regulation in (quasi-) federal member states / Elke Cloots and Stefan Sottiaux -- The European Court of Justice and member state federalism : balancing or categorisation? / Elke Cloots -- The impact of "regional blindness" on the Italian regional state / Giuseppe Martinico -- The Spanish state structure and EU law : the view of the Spanish consitutional court / Maite Zelaia Garagarza -- Economic and monetary union : caught between Brussels and Luxembourg? The influence of EU law on Belgian federalism case law / Stef Feyen.

ABSTRACTSince Nigeria's transition from military to civilian rule in 1999, the country's Supreme Court has risen from a position of relative political obscurity and institutional vulnerability into a prominent and independent adjudicator of inter-governmental disputes in this chronically conflicted federation. Examined here is the Court's arbitration, during President Olusegun Obasanjo's two civilian constitutional terms (1999–2007), of fifteen different federal-state litigations over offshore oil resources, revenue allocation, local governance and public order. The Court's federalism decisions were remarkably independent and reasonably balanced, upholding the constitutional supremacy of the Federal Government in several findings, tilting towards the states in some declarations, and simultaneously underwriting federal authority and state autonomy in other rulings. Despite the Court's important and independent role, however, the Nigerian federation was vexed by violent conflicts, underscoring the structural, political and constitutional constraints on judicial federalism in this notoriously complex and divided country.

This article discusses federalism and deferent theories related to it. Federalism as a theory, as a concept and as an organizational structure refers to the distribution of powers between the two levels of the government. It stands for unity, cooperation, and interdependence between the central government and the component units. Being dynamic in nature, it adopts changes according to the prevailing conditions of the country. An attempt has been made to elucidate federalism from two broad perspectives of the classical approach and Modern approach. The classical approach restricts federalism to cooperation and independence with quasi federalism, coupled with the element of encroachment from the federal government. This approach is merely based upon the doctrine of legal formalism or formalism fallacy. The modern approach focuses on two cardinal principles of cooperation and interdependence. The modern theory is a broad term and encompasses many forms of federalism within its ambit.