The Relationship of the Supreme Courts of the Slovak Republic with the Court of Justice of the European Union

Abstract

The judicial authorities of the Member States of the European Union have an important duty to ensure the full effect of EU legal norms at the national level, as they are obliged to fully apply EU law and to protect the individual rights conferred by that law. This article focuses on the relationship among the highest judicial bodies of the Slovak Republic, namely the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Administrative Court, with the Court of Justice of the European Union, which ensures the uniform interpretation and application of Union law. In this context, this article examines the extent to which the Slovak Supreme Court uses the preliminary ruling procedure, as well as its selected decisions, to consider the extent to which the requirements of Union law can be examined, resulting from the case-law of the Court of Justice in accordance with the principle of sincere cooperation enshrined in Article 4(3) of the Treaty on the European Union. It also examines the cooperation between the general courts of the Slovak Republic and the Court of Justice of the European Union in the context of the preliminary ruling procedure, and how the Slovak constitutional order meets the requirements of Union law.