Rule of law

Laurent Pech

Chapter 4 in Research Handbook on European Constitutional Law, 2026, pp 63-84 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The rule of law may be considered a core principle of European constitutional law, ie, a foundational legal principle which is common to the national constitutional orders and the EU and ECHR legal frameworks. This does not mean that the rule of law has been or ought to be implemented in a uniform manner, nor does it imply that its meaning is or has to be invariably fixed. Diversity of implementation and dynamic understanding notwithstanding, the rule of law has firmly established itself as a core transnational principle of European constitutional law whose primary meaning and purpose is broadly accepted across European legal systems. In the past decade, however, the rule of law has been increasingly challenged in an era of authoritarian drifts and tendencies both conceptually and practically. This chapter will focus on the Court of Justice's answer to these challenges and argue that the Court has been more effective at meeting the conceptual challenge than answering the practical undermining of the rule of law.

Keywords: Rule of law; Judicial independence; Backsliding; European Union; Court of Justice of the EU; Council of Europe; European Court of Human Rights (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781802207866
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