This study, with its approach rooted in EU law and its clear focus on conceptual underpinnings, grapples with one of the most challenging questions facing constitutional lawyers today; namely the rule of law. Drawing on the expertise of leading scholars and judges at the forefront of the question, it takes a dual approach. It opens by setting out the foundations of the rule of law, including legal certainty, democratic principles and judicial independence. It goes on to explore the protections that can be relied upon, from policy developments, to human rights sanctions, and infringement actions. This is a rapidly developing question in EU constitutional law, so this masterful collection will be welcomed by both scholars and policy-makers in the field.

This study, with its approach rooted in EU law and its clear focus on conceptual underpinnings, grapples with one of the most challenging questions facing constitutional lawyers today; namely the rule of law. Drawing on the expertise of leading scholars and judges at the forefront of the question, it takes a dual approach. It opens by setting out the foundations of the rule of law, including legal certainty, democratic principles and judicial independence. It goes on to explore the protections that can be relied upon, from policy developments, to human rights sanctions, and infringement actions. This is a rapidly developing question in EU constitutional law, so this masterful collection will be welcomed by both scholars and policy-makers in the field.

The European Court of Justice once stated that the European Community is governed by the rule of law inasmuch as member states, Community institutions and individuals are bound to the basic constitutional charter, the Treaty. The purpose of this book is to answer the question whether this statement is still valid for the European Union, and to analyse which features best define the rule of law at the European level. In order to define the principle of the rule of law at the European level, this book undertakes a comparative analysis of what the principle means in different legal systems. An analysis is also made of the implications for national legal orders, specifically for judges. The conclusion reached as a result of the research undertaken for this book is the co-existence of two visions of the rule of law within national legal orders: the traditional view of each legal order by itself, and the new vision of the principle as defined by the Court of Justice. This legal phenomenon involves what is defined as `the paradox of the two paradigms of law', which determines a share of concepts, tools and remedies amongst legal systems.

This study, with its approach rooted in EU law and its clear focus on conceptual underpinnings, grapples with one of the most challenging questions facing constitutional lawyers today; namely the rule of law. Drawing on the expertise of leading scholars and judges at the forefront of the question, it takes a dual approach. It opens by setting out the foundations of the rule of law, including legal certainty, democratic principles and judicial independence. It goes on to explore the protections that can be relied upon, from policy developments, to human rights sanctions, and infringement actions. This is a rapidly developing question in EU constitutional law, so this masterful collection will be welcomed by both scholars and policy-makers in the field.

Providing perspectives from different fields of study such as public policy and politics as well as legal analysis, this book highlights the rule of law as a fundamental value of the European Union, and examines how this is implemented throughout the Member States. It explores empirical evidence and quantitative methods for studying the dynamics of this imperative legal principle in interdisciplinary research. This title contains one or more Open Access chapters.

In our daily lives, the rule of law matters more than anything and yet remains an invisible presence. We trust in the rule of law to protect us from governmental overreach, mafia godfathers, or the will of the majority. We take the rule of law for granted, often failing to recognize its demise—until it is too late. For under attack it is, not only in the growing number of authoritarian countries around the world but in Europe, too. As a citizen’s guide, this book explains in plain language what the rule of law is, why it matters, and why we have to defend it. The starting point is to ask why EU efforts to promote the rule of law in candidate countries have succeeded or failed, and what this tells us about what is happening inside the EU. The authors move on to suggest ways of strengthening the rule of law in Europe and beyond. This book is a call to action in defense of the most precious human invention of all time.

In the field of administrative law, there is no systematic body of rules similar to those characteristic of European civil codes. General principles are therefore of fundamental importance. This volume - the sixth in the series concerning the common core of European administrative laws - explores this importance through two strands. Firstly, it examines in detail the relationship between general principles of law, such as due process, and sector-specific rules established by legislative and regulatory provisions, for example in licensing and disciplinary matters. Several questions about the nature of general principles emerge through this analysis. Are general principles about filling gaps? Or do they have a foundational role because they give meaning to the values that are shared by European legal systems, such as respect for the rule of law and for fundamental rights? Secondly, this volume also explores the interaction between commonality and diversity in European administrative law. It considers whether there are shared standards of administrative conduct, including the duty to give reasons, or if there are fundamental differences with regard to non-European legal systems, such as that of China and Venezuela. These questions are investigated through factual analysis, based on a set of hypothetical cases, which are discussed by national experts. This book then scrutinizes these questions to determine how commonality and diversity have extended and interact with one another, within and across legal systems, both diachronically and synchronically, over the course of a century. It shows that there are both unexpected areas of agreement between the European legal systems, notably concerning the right to be heard (expressed by the maxim audi alteram partem) and the duty to give reasons, and there are also areas of disagreement, for example as far as the right to remain silent vis ? vis the administration (that is, nemo tenetur se detegere) is concerned.