lecture 3 Flashcards
Institutional reliability
Parliaments have a particular
responsibility
for the creation of law
for the data on which democracy
and the rule of law run
as proprietors and creators of
democratic knowledge
The parliamentary website as a
knowledge hub
In a democracy, data needs
to be understandable
We all know how
parliaments work.
But most of us struggle to
understand them.
Digital democracy
Legislation in the public
domain
The internet has completely
changed how parliaments work
Parliamentary legislation, control
and debate happen in the chamber
and on the net.
User, regulator, provider
Parliaments are forerunners and latecomers.
People in parliaments use digital tools and AI, there is
an expectation that they are able to regulate them,
and they provide the data for them.
Still, law and politics (legal erudition and political
theory) struggle to understand from where digital
politics is developing and where they are heading.
Homework & Self-Study Modules
Homework Digital Identity & Electronic Signature
* A digital identity enables consumers and
businesses to prove their own identity
electronically.
* An electronic signature is an expression in an
electronic format of a person’s agreement to
the content of a document.
Self-Study Modules Legal Research
* European Databases
* Legal Information System of the
Republic of Austria (RIS)
* Austrian Parliament
* Literature search
Relevant Institutions of the European Union (EU)
European Council
* Political governing body of the EU
* Heads of State and Government of the member States + President of the Council and of the EU-Commission
European Parliament
* Legislative body together with the Council of the EU
* Directly elected delegates
Council of the EU
* Legislative body together with the European Parliament
* One representative of each member state at the minister level
European Commission
* Initiates the legislative process
* One representative of each member state
Important Principles EU
Principle of conferral (Art 5 (2) TEU)
* The EU shall act only within the limits of the competences conferred upon it by
the Member States in the Treaties.
Principle of subsidiarity (Art 5 (3) TEU)
* The EU does not take action, unless it is more effective than action taken at
the national, regional or local level.
Principle of proportionality (Art 5 (4) TEU)
* The EU does only set actions within specified bounds.
Primary EU Law
Treaty on the EU (TEU)
Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU)
Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR)
General Legal Principles
Secondary EU Law
Regulations
Directives
Decisions
Recommendations
Opinions
Regulations vs Directives
regulations - directly applicable
directoves - must be transposed into national law
Ordinary Legislative Process
(Art 294 TFEU):
Proposal of the European Commission
to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU
Transmission to the national parliaments
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee
Opinion of the Committee of the Regions
Opinion of the European Central Bank
EUR-Lex
- Provides official and most comprehensive access to EU legal documents
- Is available in all of the EU’s 24 official languages
- Each document is enriched with detailed information such as
◦ relations with other legal documents,
◦ case-law interpretations,
◦ dates of adoption/entry into force/applicability,
◦ legal basis,
◦ amending acts, etc.
Official Journal (OJ) of the European Union
- Official publication (gazette) for EU legal acts
- Published by the Publications Office
- EUR-Lex contains electronic versions of all Official Journals since the first edition
- Online only: Since 1 July 2013 only the electronic editions of the Official Journal
are authentic and produce legal effects - OJ currently comprises 2 series: L (legislation) and C (information and notices)
- Since 1 October 2023 the OJ is no longer a collation of acts with a table of
contents; instead each act is published individually as an authentic OJ
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)
(art 19 TEU)
* Ensures EU law is interpreted and applied the
same way in every EU country
* Ensures countries and EU institutions abide by
EU law
* Consists of two courts:
◦ the Court of Justice and
◦ the General Court
* Located in Luxembourg
CURIA
- CURIA is the official website of the
Court of Justice of the European
Union (CJEU), providing a legal
database for EU case law.
European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
(Art 19 seq European Convention on Human Rights)
Page 43
* Rules on alleged violations of the European
Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
* Ensures that states respect the rights and
guarantees set out in the Convention
* Located in Strasbourg
HUDOC
- Official legal database of the European Court of Human
Rights (ECtHR) - Provides access to the case-law of
◦ the Court (Grand Chamber, Chamber and Committee judgments and
decisions, communicated cases, advisory opinions and legal summaries
from the Case-Law Information Note),
◦ the European Commission of Human Rights (decisions and reports) and
◦ the Committee of Ministers (resolutions).
RIS
- The ‘RIS’ is the Legal Information System of the Republic
of Austria (RIS) - It is available online and free of charge since 1997
- The RIS does not assume liability for the correctness and
completeness of the Legal Information System - Since 1 January 2004 only the electronic versions of federal laws published on
the RIS are authentic and have legal effects - The RIS provides access to federal laws:
➢ in their authentic version (since 2004)
➢ in their non-authentic version (before 2004)
➢ in their consolidated version
parlament.gv.at
- Official website of the Austrian Parliament
- Provides extensive documents regarding the
legislative process
u:search
- Central search engine of the Vienna University
Library - Find print and electronic publications
- Can also browse external indices, which
enables you to search more than 400 million
articles from around 150,000 journals
Literature Research: Types of Literature
Journal Article
* Detailed discussion of a legal problem/court decision
Commentary
* Detailed description of a legal provision
* Collection of literature/case law concerning one provision
Monograph
* Book on a specific topic/legal area, often published by one author
* e.g. doctoral thesis, habilitation
Anthology
* Collection of texts by different authors concerning one topic
RDB, Lexis 360, LinDa, beck-online
- Online databases containing books,
articles, commentaries and other
legal literature - Access provided by the University of
Vienna
