Who Has the Last Word? National and Transnational Courts--Conflict and Cooperation

Abstract

In Europe, it is for the moment mainly the relationship between national courts on one side and the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice on the other that raises questions of potential conflict. The problem of defining and shaping the relationship between national and transnational courts, however, is a more general one. One need not be a prophet to foresee that it is just a matter of time before the relationship between national courts and, say, WTO panels—or even between European transnational courts and WTO panels—gets similar public attention. We should keep this in mind when discussing our actual European issues. In the first part of my presentation, I will explain what has prevented the German Federal Constitutional Court from swearing unlimited allegiance to the jurisdiction of the European Courts (I.). In the second part, I will argue that potential obstinacy on the part of...