The Advocate General and EC Law by Noreen Burrows and Rosa Greaves
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.2008.00718_1.x |
| Date | 01 September 2008 |
| Published date | 01 September 2008 |
| Author | Tamara Hervey |
codes) a matter of rules with di¡ering degrees of mandatory strengths. So the
common lawyer must wonder whether we really need all these rules at all.
Having promoted and paid for all this splendid work, the Commission has
been backing away from the project of the CFR.The priority is said to be the
coherence of EU l aw. It is hard to oppose that propositio n and argue in favour
of incoherence.The deeper ambition of securing greater harmonisation of con-
tract law and private law more broadly has been dropped as too contentious a
topic. Having started the train of the CFRo¡ on its journey with ample supplies
and a tight deadline, the Commission may nowbe slightly embarrassed that it has
more or less reached its destination by providing what is quite obviously a draft
civil code for Europe. Fortunately, the Commission can distance itself from the
book, because it is, after all, not a code, not even a CFR, but just a fascinating
academic research project in comparative law. Yet, if the Commission chooses to
drop this hot potato, it will be in my view a pity. This Draft CFR may be con-
tentious and £awed in many ways, but the conversation it will provoke will help
in the long run to provide ¢rmer foundations for the European project.
Hugh Collins
Law Department, London School of Economics
Noree n Burro ws and Ros a Greave s, The Advocate General and EC Law,Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2007, xxvþ317 pp, h b d60.00.
The Advocate General is one of the most distinctive features of the European
Court of Justice. O⁄cially required to ‘assist’ the Court, by making ‘reasoned
submissions on cases brought before the Court’ (Article 220 EC), the AG’s role
in practice may be described inter alia as research assistant, hand-maiden, mouth-
piece, interlocutor, mediator and pioneer. This book contributes to an established
body of literature on the Court, much of which comes from political science or
sociological perspectives, and much of which is written by scholars in the USA.
The authors’ approach here is one of traditional legal scholarship, in which close
analytical reading of legal texts yields insights and conclusions concerning the
developmentof Community lawand roles thatthe Advocates Generalplay in that
development.
The book has several inter-related aims. First, it aims to ‘explain the potential
signi¢cance of the submissions of theAG in the Court’s reasoning and decision-
making’(1).Inthisrespect,thebookfollowsauthorssuchasCraig,deBu
¤rca and
Weiler by disaggregating the Court as an institution, rather than assuming it is
a unitary actor, and emphasising the di¡erences of approach, style and substantive
legal argument thatdi¡erent members of the Courtadopt. Second,the book aims
to explore the question of whetherthe AG does‘assist’the Court.What does‘assist-
ing’mean in this context? Third, the book aims to‘assess the contribution of the
AG in developing principles of European Community law’ (1). Finally, the book
contributes to the legal historyof the Court and the Community legal order.
Reviews
844 r2008 The Authors.Journal Compilation r20 08The Modern Law Review Limited.
(2008)71(5) 840^852
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