1: Intro to French, US and EU Law

Question 1

french court systems

Answer 1

tribunals < judicial/ordinary courts < courts of appeal < Cass/CE

same for administrative courts

then the CC which is not supreme to the CE or Cass but just that it is specialised on specific cases of constitutional review

Question 2

european court of HR

Answer 2

not the EU so it’s not the ECJ

judicial body of the council of europe

allowed individual applications if you exhaust all recourses in your country

Question 3

US court systems

Answer 3

federal government so federal courts and state courts

for federal level
- district courts (in all 50 states) < 11 circuit courts/courts of appeal < supreme court

Question 4

common law

Answer 4

e.g. UK

judge-made law through binding precedents

based on case by case legal system where judges make decisions based on precedent and cases that have already taken place

principle of stare decisis where you are bound by what has been decided

Question 5

civil law

Answer 5

no judge-made law (made through parliament with statutes or with the executive through regulations)

not bound by precedent but doesn’t mean they don’t use it
- if they want to overturn a precedent, no need for strong reasons

Question 6

binding precedents

Answer 6

2 kinds

horizontal stare decisis
- court is bound by its own precedent

vertical stare decisis
- lower court is bound by precedent set by higher courts

for both, mandatory for the court to follow precedent in a common law setting
- need compelling reasons like a change of circumstances in law or a change in constitution that means the precedent changed

Question 7

persuasive precedent

Answer 7

precedent set by courts that are at the same level or lower than you in the hierarchy

not bound but it’s persuasive

Question 8

superprecedent

Answer 8

something you cannot overturn

precedent so well-settled that it is illegal and impossible for the court to overturn it
- Marbury v. Madison

question of whether it’s a super precedent because calls for overruling stopped or because it has been reaffirmed by the court for over 50 years

Question 9

types of decisions from the supreme court

Answer 9

majority opinion

dissenting opinion

concurring opinion

Question 10

decisions from french courts

Answer 10

no separate concurring or dissenting opinion

only one opinion to feel like it is unanimous

Question 11

decisions from the ECHR

Answer 11

longer opinions with the possibility of dissenting or concurring opinions