Judicial Review of Administrative Action in Europe: Common Trends and Requirements

Abstract

This article focuses on judicial review of administrative action within the European legal space. It has three main themes. First, it makes an attempt to understand, in a historical perspective, why some courts deeply involved in the business of government have failed somewhere, while other courts have succeeded elsewhere. Second, the paper considers current trends in Europe. It distinguishes two variants of specialization - one based on administrative courts and another on specialized panels within civil courts. Thirdly, the article argues that a balance between judicial independence and accountability is necessary. This implies, on the one hand, guarantees of judicial independence, a legal basis for the exercise of authority over individuals and firms and certain standards of procedural due process of law. Arguably, national governments have some margins of manoeuvre in the interpretation of such requirements, but their essential content cannot be infringed. On the other hand, accountability must be ensured: in particular, if certain conditions are met, supervision by mixed judicial councils is to preferred to self-regulation.