The role of national courts between EU obligations and national standards of protection of fundamental rights

Published date01 June 2018
DOI10.1177/2032284418778144
AuthorAnnalisa Lucifora
Date01 June 2018
Subject MatterArticles
Article
The role of national courts
between EU obligations and
national standards of protection
of fundamental rights
Annalisa Lucifora
Universidad Auto
´noma de Madrid, Spain
Abstract
This article focuses on the role of national courts in the implementation of the EU legal system.
Since Simmenthal and Costa v. E.N.E.L., these courts are called upon, as part of their duty of sincere
cooperation, to ensure the full application of EU law in all Member States and to protect the rights
which that law confers on individuals. The duty to set aside conflicting provisions may be pro-
blematic in criminal cases. The issue has recently been put in the spotlight again by the Taricco case,
which shows how the removal of an inconsistency between domestic legislation and EU law could
sometimes lead to an infringement of constitutional criminal law principles. The Taricco case also
calls into question the relationship between the primacy of EU law and the protection of funda-
mental rights.
Keywords
National courts, EU obligations, fundamental rights, Taricco case
Preliminary remarks. The issues at stake after the ‘‘Taricco’ saga
One of the critical issues raised by the process of European integration is the role of national courts,
which are priority vehicles of EU law in national legal orders. Their actions can occasionally take
forms which may unhinge the balance of the systems in which they operate, especially when they
are called upon to fulfil EU obligations in cases where there has been a lack of intervention by the
legislature. The complexity of this issue has recently been put in the spotlight again by the Taricco
case, which has certainly played a part in fostering doubts regarding the increasing expansion of
the role of national courts in the enforcement of EU law in national legal systems. Since the well-
Corresponding author:
Annalisa Lucifora, InterTalentum - Marie Curie Fellow at the Universidad Auto
´noma de Madrid, A
´rea de Derecho penal,
Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, C/Kelsen 1, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
E-mail: annalisa.lucifora@uam.es
New Journal of European Criminal Law
2018, Vol. 9(2) 216–228
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/2032284418778144
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