The Court of Justice of the European Union

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Like any court, the ECJ has faced constraints in its external context, including constraints imposed by national governments and national courts. But overall, the ECJ has benefitted from a remarkably benign external environment. The ECJ has found much support from key actors including national governments, national courts, and members of the European legal field. In recent years the ECJ faces contextual challenges in its relationship with member governments, national courts, and the European legal field. New member governments with fragile democracies and questionable commitments to the rule of law may increasingly test the extent to which they can defy or evade EU law without incurring a robust response. Moreover, the growth and diversification of the European legal field and the encroachment of EU law on increasingly sensitive policy areas is likely to provoke more intense criticism of the Court.