Judgment of the Czech Constitutional Court of 26 November 2008 concerning the compatibility of the Lisbon Treaty with the Czech Constitution
Keywords:
Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, Czech Constitution, Primary Lisbon Treaty, Ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, Czech Republic, Community law, Constitutional law, Principle of primacy, Competences of the European Union, Transfer of competences,Abstract
This commentary summarises the main points of a recent Judgment of the Czech Constitutional Court concerning the compatibility of the Lisbon Treaty with the Czech Constitution. This Judgment is the first time the Constitutional Court has given its opinion on the interaction between the primary law of the European Union (as found in the Lisbon Treaty) and the Czech constitutional order. The Court’s interpretation of the interaction between primary EU law and the Czech Constitution is based on a legal (not political) assessment, in conformity with Community law principles. Given the strong eurosceptic political climate in the Czech Republic, it was difficult for the Court to rigorously conduct its legal analysis - particularly in light of that fact that the proceedings before the Constitutional Court suspended (and could even block) the approval process of the Lisbon Treaty in the Czech Republic. The Czech Constitutional Court also took the opportunity to define the boundaries to the interpretation of the Czech Constitution as regards its conformity with the EU law. In doing so, the Court was heavily influenced by case law of the German Constitutional Court and chose not to fully accept the primacy principle of EU law as defined by the European courts.Downloads
Published
2009-05-20
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JURISPRUDENCE
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