Heads of state or government of the member states of the European Union have a dual role: they are and remain holders of domestic executive offi ces, but at the same time members of the European Council – the EU institution that is the centre of political authority within the Union. This membership, approached here from a constitutional and historical perspective, is autonomous to the extent that it is attributed to the heads of state or government and substantively determined by the EU’...

All legal texts tell us stories, in many ways. What stories, what narratives, can be found in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union? This book invites the reader to think of the world of EU law as a creative process. From such a perspective, the adjudicative praxis of the Court is an intellectual, cultural, literary activity, in which the reader can imagine him- or herself participating.

The author develops a novel hermeneutic methodology to examine the textual performanc...

This book acts as a guide to companies doing business with parties in the European Union. It provides the reader with answers to key questions of private international law. When and under which conditions can the court(s) of an EU Member State assume jurisdiction and which law will be applied? Will the resulting judgment be recognised and enforced in other EU Member States?

In addition to a general explanation of the system of private international law in the EU Member States, the book provid...

An eight-year-old girl goes on a playdate with a school friend on a spring afternoon, and the two children decide to play football in the garden. Unfortunately, the girl accidentally kicks the ball across the hedge, towards the patio of the neighbour, where it hits and breaks a porcelain vase. Should the girl’s parents compensate the neighbour for the repair of the vase? According to French law, they should – parents in France are strictly liable for damage caused by their young children....

The limitations of the present investigation impose to restrict the analysis to the trial system of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as it is not possible to examine in depth the problem of the position of the third state. The present study intends to contribute to the reconstruction of the structural features of the intervention as not party, as foreseen by articles 62 and 63, of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Statute. The first part of this survey is dedicated to a genera...

Brigid Laffan on her lecture 'Can Collective Power Europe Emerge from Putin’s War?':

‘On 24 February 2022, the post-war international order ended, as did the 1989 peace dividend. A major nuclear power, Russia, invaded its neighbour Ukraine, targeting civilians, reducing urban centres to a rubble and triggering a major displacement of people in Europe. For the European Union (EU) and the wider community of democracies, this is a critical juncture with implications for the security and poli...

Sustainable development has become a central objective in national and international policy of development and the environment. Increasingly it also marks international and national law. In this book scholars in environmental law treat legal theories on sustainable development and how it may be operationalized, and topics related to its development in international law, European law, international trade and investment law, and within the climate regime.

The book marks the 20th anniversary of ...

As fish stocks continue to decline worldwide, coastal states seem to have largely failed in managing fisheries in their EEZs effectively. This study examines the international legal principles for effective EEZ fisheries management, and undertakes to assess their domestic implementation in a comparative perspective.The 1982 UNCLOS as well as general international law provide a useful range of norms for sustainable EEZ fisheries management, if carefully interpreted. These include the coastal s...

This volume addresses the future of political control and accountability in a European and comparative perspective. It is based on the contributions to an international conference hosted by the Montesquieu Institute (Centre of European Parliamentary History and Constitutional Development) at Maastricht in March 2008. The conference concluded a larger research project that was devoted to identifying features of domestic constitutional law that could help develop a system of effective accountab...

Direct effect, consistent interpretation and state liability are instruments developed by the CJEU for national courts to remedy conflicts between national and EU law (and may also be used in some jurisdictions to resolve national law and international law). This book will look at the `remedial capacity of these doctrines/tools from the perspective of the national court applying them. In short: what are their strengths, weaknesses, unexplored opportunities at grassroot level, and what can we ...