EU standards for judicial appointments. A clarification, revision and further development of EU legal requirementsPromovendus: Mw. S.C.L. Lemmer
Promotor: P. Van Nuffel
Duur: 1/3/2023 - 18/2/2027
Abstract:
Whereas the need to appoint judges is universal to all justice systems, there is a sheer variety of judicial appointment procedures in the Member States. The EU, initially, did not pay significant attention to judicial appointments at national level. But since the 'rule of law backsliding' of some Member States, EU standards for judicial appointment procedures were established via 'soft instruments', such as the Rule of Law Reports, and case law of the European Court of Justice.
Several uncertainties regarding these EU standards persist. Firstly, there appear to be different types of EU standards: The adherence to some of them seems to be only desirable at EU level, other requirements seem to be actually legally enforceable. However, the line between is unclear. Furthermore, the EU standards strongly emphasize the judges’ independence from the executive and legislature. This could lead to a neglection of other legitimate values pursued by judicial appointment procedures, such as the democratic legitimacy, representativeness or expertise of appointed judges. Finally, other issues related to judicial appointment procedures may not have been addressed yet at EU level.
It is the project’s primary goal to address these questions by shedding light on the contours and substance of legally enforceable EU requirements in this field. Building on an in-depth comparative analysis of some Member States’ judicial appointment procedures, the project will attempt to clarify, where appropriate normatively revise and further develop legally enforceable EU legal requirements.