National Judges and Community Law: The Paradox of the Two Paradigms of Law
| Date | 01 June 1997 |
| Author | Maria Luisa,Fernandez Esteban |
| Published date | 01 June 1997 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X9700400204 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
M aria Lu isa
Fe rna nd ez E ste ban
N atio nal Judges and Com mun ity law : T he Par adox o f the
Tw o Paradigm s o f L aw
§ 1. In tro duc tion
The Court of Justice has defined increasingly far-reaching obligations on national judges
in the context of the Community law mandate, virtually defining their powers and
effectively conferring national courts with jurisdiction to review ce rtain actions of the
State, in circumstances where the applicable national law would not have allowed the
national court to do so .1 I refer here to the new generation of legal reme dies2 defined
by the Court in key cases du ring the last 5 years: the so-called Euro-re medies.3 Lower
* Lecturer of Constitutional La w. Autonoma University of Madrid.
1. D. Curtin , ‘The Decentralized Enforcem ent of Community Law Rights. Judicial Snakes and La dders’,
inD . Curtin eta l . (e ds.), C on stitu tio na l Adju dic ati on in the Eu rop ean C om mun ities an d N ati on al La w,
(Butterworths, 1992), 41 .
2. See in general P. Oliver, ‘Le Dro it Communautaire et les Voies de R ecourse Nationales’, 28 Ca hier s
de D r oit E ur opé en (1 992), 34 8. J. Steiner , ‘From Direct Effect to Francovich: Shifting Means of
Enforcement of Community Law’, 18 Eu ro pea n L aw R ev iew (1993), 3; A. Ph.T ash, ‘Remedies for
European Comm unity law. Claims in Member State Courts: Toward a European Stand ard’, 31 Colu m
bia J ou rn a l o f Tr ans na tion al La w (1993), 377; F. G. Jacobs, ‘Remedies in National Courts for the
Enforcement of Community Rights’, in M. Perez Gonzalez (ed.), H ac ia u n Nu ev o O rde n In ter nac io na l
y Eu rop eo. H om en aje al Pr ofe so r Ai. D iez de V ela sco , (Tecnos , 1993), 969; J. M. Ferná ndez Martín,
‘El Pri ncipio de Tutela Efectiva de los Derechos Subjetivos Derivados d el Derec ho Comun itario.
Evolución y Alcance’, 21 Rev ista de Ins titu cio ne s Eu rop ea s (1994), 845; A. Ward, ‘Effective Sanctions
in EC Law: Moving Boundary in the Division of Competence’, 1 Euro pe an L aw Jo ur na l (1995), 205;
W. va n Gerven, ‘Bridging the Gap Between Community and National Laws: Towards a Principle o f
Homogeneity in the Field of Legal Remedies?’, and R. Caranta ‘Judicial Protection Against Member
States: A New lu s Co mmu ne Take s Shape’ both in 32 Com mon Ma rk et L aw R evie w (1995), 679 and
703 resp ectively.
3. The nickname ‘Euro-rem edies’ underlines the fact that, accordi ng to the late st case law o f the Court
of J ustice, these remedies emanate fro m Community law. In Fran co vic h, Joined cases C-6&9/90
Fr anc ovi ch, B on ifa ci an d O ther s v. Ita lia n rep ub lic [1991] EC R1-5357, the Court spelt out unequivo
cally its view that it is Community law itself which confers on national courts the competence to afford
a part icular remedy in the enforcement of Community based rights, i f they do not have the requisite
MJ 4 (1 997) 143
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