PhD student: Mr A. Lympikis

Promotor: Mrs Dr E. Muir

Duration: 1/9/2024 - 31/8/2028

Abstract:

Preliminary references are a main feature of the EU legal order. They are conceptualized by the CJEU as a judicial dialogue with the national courts, aiming at the uniform application of EU law. The CJEUs Rules of Procedure (RoP) and practice set out the different ways to manage references, leading to variations in the normal procedure followed for each reference. References adjudicated via reasoned order, under the expedited and urgent procedures, are the ones diverging the most in their procedural management, thus corresponding to special procedures. However, the literature mainly focuses on the RoP of the CJEU, describing the normal procedure and offering alternative models to the CJEUs judicial dialogue paradigm. As a result, the lack of knowledge regarding how, when, and why each procedure applies persists, reducing institutional transparency and confidence in the mechanism. The persistence of these questions in turn challenges the theoretical models conceptualizing references. To address them and the underlying problem, the project aims to describe/explain the normal and special procedures, recognizing the differences between the two. It then seeks to explore how these procedures fit the CJEUs judicial dialogue narrative.