It is important to note that although various national constitutional courts have asserted the supremacy of their national constitutions over E.U. law, to date no national courts have directly defied a ruling of the ECJ. In fact, even the German Constitutional Court among others has made it very difficult for litigants to challenge European laws in the national courts. Thus, the national courts are protecting the uniformity of European law at the same time that they are asserting that their national constitutions are not inferior to it. As Jackson explains, “National courts have taken stances at one sympathetic to the development of a uniform and coherent body of EU law and maintaining distance or the possibility of distance between EU law and – – national constitutional Some scholars therefore argue that while the national courts are law.” protecting their power to interpret their national constitutions, they may also be forcing the judges on the ECJ to communicate more with them about the interpretation of European law. Even after the enactment of the Lisbon Treaty, the controversy continued. In 2009, the German Constitutional Court in a case interpreting the Lisbon Treaty again stated its belief that it decides whether E.U. law is superior to the German Constitution. It is unclear whether other national courts will follow the latest German example. Thus, the question arises, is European law hierarchical with the ECJ serving as the highest court in Europe, or is European constitutional law parallel to the national legal systems? Supporters of the former position tend to be labeled as European federalists, while the latter position has given rise to the concept popular in many European academic circles today known as There are many definitions of constitutional pluralism. Providing “constitutional pluralism”. one definition of constitutional pluralism, one pair of scholars has written, language of “The constitutional pluralism is increasingly being used both to describe the existence of and to relationship between the many different kinds of normative authority functional, regional, –
It is important to note that although various national constitutional courts have asserted the supremacy of their national constitutions over E.U. law, to date no national courts have directly defied a ruling of the ECJ. In fact, even the German Constitutional Court among others has made it very difficult for litigants to challenge European laws in the national courts. Thus, the national courts are protecting the uniformity of European law at the same time that they are asserting that their national constitutions are not inferior to it. As Jackson explains, “National courts have taken stances at one sympathetic to the development of a uniform and coherent body of EU law and maintaining distance – or the possibility of distance – between EU law and national constitutional law.” Some scholars therefore argue that while the national courts are protecting their power to interpret their national constitutions, they may also be forcing the judges on the ECJ to communicate more with them about the interpretation of European law. Even after the enactment of the Lisbon Treaty, the controversy continued. In 2009, the German Constitutional Court in a case interpreting the Lisbon Treaty again stated its belief that it decides whether E.U. law is superior to the German Constitution. It is unclear whether other national courts will follow the latest German example. Thus, the question arises, is European law hierarchical with the ECJ serving as the highest court in Europe, or is European constitutional law parallel to the national legal systems? Supporters of the former position tend to be labeled as European federalists, while the latter position has given rise to the concept popular in many European academic circles today known as “constitutional pluralism”. There are many definitions of constitutional pluralism. Providing one definition of constitutional pluralism, one pair of scholars has written, “The language of constitutional pluralism is increasingly being used both to describe the existence of and to relationship between the many different kinds of normative authority – functional, regional,