GDL Law Notes GDL EU Law Notes
A collection of the best GDL notes the director of Oxbridge Notes (an Oxford law graduate) could find after combing through applications from top students and carefully evaluating each on accuracy, formatting, logical structure, spelling/grammar, conciseness and "wow-factor". In short these are what we believe to be the strongest set of GDL notes available in the UK this year. This collection of GDL notes is fully updated for recent exams, also making them the most up-to-date GDL study materials ...
The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our GDL EU Law Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:
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Treaty Basis
Weak textual basis of competence:
Art 6(3) TEU: fundamental rights as general principles
Art 19 TEU: CoJ “shall ensure that in the interpretation and application of the Treaties the law is observed”
Art 263(2) TFEU: CoJ “shall…have jurisdiction in actions…on grounds of lack of competence, infringement of an essential procedural requirement, infringement of the Treaties or of any rule of law relating to their application or misuse of powers”
Art 340(2) TFEU: “in accordance with the general principles common to the laws of the MS, make good any damage caused by its institutions…”
General principles = a body of rules which exist independently of the treaties
The Court has identified and applied an (open) list of GPL including:
Fundamental rights
Equality
Subsidiarity
Transparency
‘Precautionary Principle’
Rules of administrative justice: proportionality (discussed below), legal certainty, legitimate expectations, right to fair hearing, duty to give reasons, right to legal redress (‘due process’) etc.
Argument that there is some treaty basis:
Art 2 TEU (foundational values)
Art 7 TEU breach of fundamental values
Art 5(1), (3) & (4) TEU subsidiarity & proportionality
Arts 18, 19, 40 & 157 TFEU equality
Sources:
ECHR
MS constitutional traditions Hoogovens v High Authority “the court…chooses from each MS those solutions which, having regard to the objects of the Treaty, appear to be the best or…the most progressive”
CoJ jurisprudence
Proportionality
(Art 5)
The Protocol of the Application of the Principles of Subsidiarity and Proportionality requires justification of any draft legislation under these principles
Fedesa 1990: proportionality as a purposive tool – “measures...do not exceed the limits of what is appropriate and necessary in order to attain the objectives legitimately pursued”
Fundamental Rights
Early approach:
Geitling v High Authority
Held: rejected the suggestion that Community law might give some protection to fundamental rights contained in the German constitution.
Community law, ‘does not contain any general principle…guaranteeing the maintenance of vested rights.
Stork v High Authority: CoJ could not examine a complaint which maintains that it infringed principles of German constitutional law
Calls from the President of the Commission to make fundamental freedom protection more ‘visible’
Stauder v City of Ulm
Scheme to provide cheap butter to recipients of welfare benefit
Held: the Union could not "prejudice the fundamental human rights enshrined in the general principles of Community law and protected by the Court".
International Handelsgesellschaft v Einfuhr- und Vorratsstelle Getreide
Held: extension of EU primacy to fundamental rights
“Respect for fundamental rights form an integral part of the general principles of law protected by the Court of Justice. The protection of such rights, whilst inspired by the constitutional traditions common to the member states, must be ensured within the framework of the structure and objectives of the Community.”
J Nold v Commission
Held: HR integral & measures cannot be upheld which impinge upon them – CoJ to draw inspiration from the constitutional traditions common to the member states.
“international treaties for the protection of human rights on which the member states have collaborated or of which they are signatories, can supply guidelines”
Reaction:
Solange I: German constitutional court threatened to disapply EU measures in conflict
Solange II: cautious acceptance of EU fundamental rights protection & grundgesetz
Who is bound by fundamental rights
EU Institutions:
Kadi and Al Barakaat
Frozen assets under UN law
Held: MS have an international duty to the UN but this does not affect EU supremacy. The legality of EU laws must be established by its own...
Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our GDL EU Law Notes.
A collection of the best GDL notes the director of Oxbridge Notes (an Oxford law graduate) could find after combing through applications from top students and carefully evaluating each on accuracy, formatting, logical structure, spelling/grammar, conciseness and "wow-factor". In short these are what we believe to be the strongest set of GDL notes available in the UK this year. This collection of GDL notes is fully updated for recent exams, also making them the most up-to-date GDL study materials ...
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