Ultra Vires Review and the Demise of Constitutional Pluralism
| Published date | 01 February 2016 |
| Author | Zdenek Kühn |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X1602300111 |
| Date | 01 February 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
23 MJ 1 (2016) 185
ULTRA VIRES REVIEW AND THE DEMISE
OF CONSTITUTIONAL PLURALISM
e Czecho-Slovak Pension Saga, and the Dangers
ofState Courts’ De ance of EU Law
Z K*
ABSTRACT
e Czech Constitutional Court decision in the Czecho-Slovak pension saga, declaring a
judgment of the Court of Justice ultra vire s, represents one important step in the debate on
the sustainability of the so-called constitutional pluralism in the relation of EU law and
domestic legal systems. Although the Czech decision could be ridiculed as simple-minded
and failing to leave any lasting footprint in the wider EU legal debate, the author of this
article argues otherwise . Facing the speci cs of the ca se, on the one hand, the author argues
that the notion of constitutional pluralism remains largely an academic constr uct, which
could be the subject of interesting scholarly debates, while for practitioners, on the other
hand, it is awed and has the potential to lead to dangerous outcomes for people in real
life cases.
Keywords: constitutional pluralism; Court of Justice; Czech Constitutional Court; ultra
vires doctrine
§1. IN TRODUCTION
e purpose of this article is to expla in the cause and consequences of the rst and (so far)
only case in which a hig h court of a Member State has declared a judgment of the Court
of Justice of the European Union (Court of Just ice) ultra vires, exa mining the Landtova
* Associate Professor of Jurisprudence at Charles University Law School and Judge at the Supreme
Administ rative Court. One note and one usua l disclai mer: despite being judge of one of the courts
involved in Slovak pe nsion saga the author ha s never taken par t in any of the judgment refer red to in this
article; a nd of course, all opin ions are those of the author an d not of the institutions he is a mem ber of.
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