The Court of Justice of the European Union as an Institutional Actor (Cambridge Studies in European Law and Policy)

The EU Treaties bind the Court of Justice of the European Union as an institution of the Union. But what does that mean for judicial lawmaking within the EU legal order? And how might any limits set out in the EU Treaties be effectively applied to the Court of Justice as lawmaker? This book interrogates these fundamental and underexplored questions at a critical juncture in European integration. It argues that the EU Treaties should be considered to function as the principal touchstones for assessing the internal constitutionality, and hence legitimacy, of all Union institutional activity - including the work of the Court. It then examines how far the Court of Justice complies with the EU Treaty framework in the exercise of its interpretative functions. The results of that analysis are striking and offer scholars powerful new insights into the nature and limits of the Court's role within the EU legal order.

Thomas Horsley is Senior Lecturer at Liverpool Law School, University of Liverpool. He specialises in EU constitutional law, with a particular focus on the Court of Justice. He has published widely in leading international journals and edited collections on EU law and European integration. Thomas has also given evidence to the House of Lords EU Select Committee, acted as UK Rapporteur at the 2014 FIDE Congress and authored the annual legal developments contribution for the Journal of Common Market Studies (2014–16). He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Edinburgh (2009–11), funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council.