Fundamental Rights Flashcards
What are some general principles of EU law?
- Mudler: Legitimate expectations
- Ruckdeschel: Equality
- Mangold: Equal treatment with regards to age, this can be derived from common constitutional principles of member states
- Kirk: Non-retroactivity
What limits are there of general principles in the law?
- Sonica Chacon Navas: Non-discrimination on the grounds of sickness is not a general principle
- Audiolux: No general principles of equality amongst shareholders in EU law
What does Art 6 TEU say?
- The Union recognises the rights and freedoms set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights
- Union accedes to the European Convention on Human Rights
- Fundamental rights and freedoms as given by the ECHR and constitutional traditions common to the member states constitute general principles of Union law
- None of these extend the competence of the Union
What further provisions of the TEU might we turn to in order to show protection of fundamental rights?
Art 2: Union is fouded on values of respect and human rights (includes human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality)
Art 7:Allows for the possibility of suspending membership rights of a country if they seriously and persistently breach the principles in Art 2
Art 9: Principle of equality is to be observed in all activities of the union and evert national is a citizen of the Union
Where has the development of fundamental rights come from?
- Treaties of Rome did not originally provide provisions for the protection for fudamental rights, focus on economic co-operation
- CJEU has stressed fundamental rights form an integral part of the general principles of law and it is responsible for the observance of such. Draws inspiration from constitutional traditions of the member states (Nold)
How did the case law change the position of the EU on human rights?
Stauder: First example of the CJEU considering human rights as general principles of comunnity law
Internatonale Handelsgellschaft: Said the respect for fundamental rights forms an integral part of the general principles of law protected by CJEU
Grogan: Fundamental rights in EU law does not apply in cases where national law has a more tenuous connection (i.e. laws surrounding abortion)
Why is the ECHR a good source of law for the development of fundamental rights in EU law?
Convention is ratified by all member states, therefore must be thought that all member states subscribe to these principles and would want to achieve them in all areas
Do the four fundamental freedoms create a special class of rights?
Court tries to see them as equal, creates a balance between the two interests
* Schmidberger: Distinguishes between absolute and non-absolute rights, it is about balancing these
* Omega Spielhallen: Contested order did not go beyond what is necessary in order to obtain the objective, i.e. human dignity
What is the significance of the Mary Carpenter case?
- Art 51 TFEU read with the fundamental right to respect for family life precludes the deportation of C
- This would be detrimental to their family life and would affect Mr Carpenters fundamental freedom
- No reference made to the Charter, the court was slow to do this and did not do so until the case of Parliament v Council in 2006
When will the Charter on Fundamental Rights apply?
Art 51: Applies to the institutions of the EU and Member States when they are implementing Union law
What are some examples where a member state is implementing EU law with a direct link?
- Digital Rights Ireland: When a member state is transposing a directive the Charter will apply, the Directive in this case was invalid as it infringes upon the right to privacy and protection of personal data by going beyond what was necessary
- Lidl GmbH: Although a requirement requiring labelling of price on poultry could limit the freedom to conduct business, this was not an absolute freedom and the interference was proportionate
What case shows the charter being used as a basis of review where the measure concerned was one of the member state?
Fransson
* Argued there was an indirect link, the goal of the national law was the same as directives of EU law, national legislation intended to implement the Treaty obligation
* Ruled that the national court was free to apply a domestic standard of fundamental rights, both sanctions could exist so long as they are not both criminal matters
When can national courts apply national standards of fundamental rights?
Art 53- The Charter shall not be interpreted as restricting or adversely affecting human rights and fundamental freedoms in other areas such as the member states constitutions
* Stated as true in Fransson, where the situation is not entirely determined by EU law member states are free to apply national standards of protection so long as this does not compromise the Charter or primacy of EU law
What is the significance of the Portuguese Judges Case?
Portuguese judges argued a salary reduction breached Art 19 TEU and Art 47 of the Charter
* Art 19 could apply irrespective of whether the Member States are implementing Union law
* There is a multi-level of protection, effective judicial protection is a general principle of law that is enshrined in the treaty and reaffirmed in the Charter
* The salary reductions did not impair judicial independence as they applied to civil servants other than judges, were temporary and aimed at reducing Portugal’s budget defecit
What happened in the case of Commission v Poland?
The commission launched proceedings for an investigation into Polish laws that reduced the compulsory retirement age for judges and a Presidental power to extend a judges term beyond this
* Art 19(1) can be read in light of Art 47 CFR so as to ensure that Member states uphold judicial independence within their own jurisdictions
Is EU accession to the ECHR necessary to address the risk of conflict between the CJEU and ECtHR?
- CJEU ruled that the Accession Agreement of 2013 was incompatible with Art 6(2) TEU which required any accession to preserve the specific feature of EU law
- Accession should be pursued in order to ensure finality, equal treatment of EU and domestic law and full EU accountability (De Londras)
- May be desireable from a political perspective, however due to the legal complexity, it may not be worthwhile
