Preliminary Reference Procedure in Ensuring Uniformity and Consistent Essay

Preliminary Reference Procedure in Ensuring Uniformity and Consistent Development of European Union Law - Essay Example This paper stresses that the European Union preliminary ruling procedure places substantial vested interest in the national courts; it is the national courts, after-all, who are the first guarantors of Union law. One notes that the all-consuming nature of this ruling is parallel to the United States Supreme Court interpretive mechanism of law, wherein this judicial body represents the ultimate view on the subject matter. Indeed, the very name preliminary ruling procedure is slightly misleading as it seemingly indicates the origination of the interpretive process when in reality it is the endpoint of law. this essay has contained a discussion of the procedural nature of the ECJ's interaction. However, it should not be forgotten that the preliminary reference procedure is instrumental in allowing the ECJ to lay down new substantive legal principles. One need look no further for an example than the case of Van Gend. This was the first case in which the doctrine of direct effect was articulated. Today it has come to represent a seminal ruling in terms of preliminary procedure for its exploration of the limits and potential expansive nature of the process itself. At the time only Treaties were held to be directly effective, subsequently however, the principle has expanded and can now, stated generally, include virtually any form of EU legislation, so long as these are unequivocally articulated, not dependent on outside understanding, and grant a unique right to the claimant. Van Gend, as described above was a case brought to the ECJ under the preliminary reference procedure on a question of the interpretation of Article 30 TFEU. ... icle 110 TFEU occasioned the ECJs shift to primacy over national courts 5 Article 30 TFEU and the Preliminary Reference Procedure – the development of EU precedent 7 Preliminary Reference Procedure and the substantive development of the law 9 Conclusion 9 Bibliography 10 Introduction European Union preliminary reference procedure functions as the predominant interpretive mechanism in Union Law. Indeed, the preliminary reference procedure has been referred to as the ‘jewel in the Crown of the ECJ’s jurisdiction’ for this central position to the development of Union law (Barnard 2010, p109). It is a procedure that provides a vital contact point between the jurisdiction of the ECJ and the national courts, allowing legal issues relating legal issues that are correlated with the interpretation of Treaties to be mitigated throughout the European Union (Blackstone 2011). This preliminary ruling procedure is a unique element of the European Union legal structure. W hile interpretive and appellate processes are regularly aspects of most Western legal system, the European Union preliminary ruling procedure places substantial vested interest in the national courts; it is the national courts, after-all, who are the first guarantors of Union law. One notes that the all-consuming nature of this ruling is parallel to the United States Supreme Court interpretive mechanism of law, wherein this judicial body represents the ultimate view on the subject matter. Indeed, the very name preliminary ruling procedure is slightly misleading as it seemingly indicates the origination of the interpretive process when in reality it is the endpoint of law. This process emerged with the formulation of the European Union judicial system and is specifically described in the Treaty on the