This volume contains the written versions of presentations given at the international conference "Convergence and Divergence of Family Law in Europe", organised in Amsterdam in September 2006. The main objective of this conference was to instigate an in-depth discussion regarding various facets of the convergence/divergence discord. Another objective was to give scholars the opportunity to present their respective views in the ongoing debate surrounding convergence, divergence and deliberate harmonisation activities in the field of family law. In the first part of this book the historical and theoretical issues of the convergence/divergence debate and the controversy surrounding the "cultural constraints" argument are discussed. The second part gives a picture of the contemporary role of convergence/divergence tendencies on a regional level in various parts of Europe. It starts with an overview of the recent trends in the renowned "Nordic co-operation" in the approximation of family laws, which is generally considered to be the most successful example of regional harmonisation of family laws in Europe. The next article deals with convergence/divergence tendencies in the development of the family law of the Spanish autonomous communities. The following two contributions offer a summary of the convergence and divergence trends in Eastern Europe against the background of such sweeping events as the fall of the Soviet Union, the disintegration of the Eastern block and the accession of a majority of the Central European countries to the EU. The third part of this volume deals with the convergence and divergence tendencies in the following particular fields of family law: marriage, divorce, same-sex relationships, establishment of parenthood and matrimonial property law.
Over the last two decades public law liability for breach of European Union law has been subject to remarkable developments. This book examines the convergence between its two constituent systems: the damages liability of the EU and that of its Member States for failing to comply with EU rules. Member State liability, based as it is on the Francovich case (1991) and Brasserie du Pêcheur and Factortame (1996) judgments of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is well established. But it is yet to be closely scrutinised by reference to the detailed rules on the liability of the European Union. The focus of the book is on the two key legal criteria that are common to both systems, namely the grant of rights to individuals by EU law and the notion of sufficiently serious breach of such rights. The analysis concentrates on developments in the case law of the ECJ and the General Court since the Bergaderm judgment (2000), which consolidated the convergence of the two liability systems that was first indicated in Brasserie du Pêcheur and Factortame. These two criteria are set side by side to evaluate the extent, in real terms, of the convergence of Member State and EU institutional damages liability, and to determine the extent to which one has influenced the other. This book shows that although full convergence between the two liability systems is not likely, each stream of case law should look to the other more actively as this important element of EU remedial law develops. Convergence in EU law public liability is supported by developments in adjacent areas, most notably European tort law and European administrative law. This study also illustrates how convergence in the EU liability systems to date has had spill-over effects into national public liability law.
The year 2017 has been an uneasy one for the EU, with so-called Brexit on the horizon and the rise of populist euroskepticism in a number of Member States. This year, with the tenth anniversary of the Romanian and Bulgarian accession to the Union, is a good year to pause and reflect over the life and future of the Union. In this work, we envision the next decade with Europe 2020 strategy and review the fruits of the 2004 accession in Central and Eastern Europe. What has the Union achieved? Which policy areas are likely to change and how? How successful, and by what measure, has the accession of the 10 Member States in 2004 been? Reviewing European Union Accession addresses a wide range of issues, deliberately without any thematic constraints, in order to explore EU enlargement from a variety of perspectives, both scientific and geographical, internal and external. In contrast to the major works in this field, we highlight the interrelated, and often unexpected, nature of the integration process – hence the subtitle, unexpected results, spillover effects and externalities.
From two symposia in the winter and spring of 1997 at Cambridge, England, 13 essays analyze a cluster of issues arising in the European Union public law arena. Some deal with issues of liability and the availability of remedies in European and domestic law. Others take a broader view, looking at the phenomenon of cross-fertilization among national legal systems and between national systems and European Union law. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
The phenomenon of trafficking in women for sexual exploitation, which in the last decade has changed from a marginal 'non-issue' to a legitimate concern in many parts of the world, has become familiar through newspaper coverage, and now, finally, legislators and law enforcement agencies have begun to act. In Europe many EU Member States now have (or are developing) at least some sort of anti-trafficking policies (with some of them in the forefront of global anti-trafficking efforts). Moreover, the EU itself has become markedly more active with regard to curbing trafficking in human beings, as part of its migration control and police and judicial co-operation functions. However, even co-ordinated efforts such as those being worked on by the EU tend to produce only short-term 'cures' to a problem that is in truth global and structural in nature and which cannot be eradicated - or necessarily even significantly reduced - through policing and migration control measures alone. Too often there is little debate on broader measures which might be targeted to address the 'root causes' of trafficking, such as poverty, under-development, general lack of economic and migration opportunities and, above all, gender inequality. Against this background, this book deals with present efforts to control trafficking in women for sexual exploitation. In doing so it examines claims that what is needed effectively to prevent and tackle trafficking is a 'comprehensive' approach, and at the very least one that is far more wide-ranging and coherent than what exists today, and also analyses the assertion that destination countries, and more specifically Member States of the EU, could and perhaps should, take more action against trafficking through regional co-operation, particularly in the framework of the EU, rather than as individual Member States. The book will be of interest to a wide range of scholars in EU law, human rights, comparative law, sociology, feminist theory and politics, as well as policy-makers, practitioners and NGO activists in various European countries.
The Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies provides a forum for the scrutiny of significant issues in EU Law, the law of the European Convention on Human Rights, and Comparative Law with a 'European' dimension, and particularly those issues which have come to the fore during the year preceding publication. The contributions appearing in the collection are commissioned by the Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS) Cambridge, a research centre in the Law Faculty of the University of Cambridge specialising in European legal issues. The papers presented are at the cutting edge of the fields which they address, and reflect the views of recognised experts drawn from the University world, legal practice, and the institutions of both the EU and its Member States. Inclusion of the comparative dimension brings a fresh perspective to the study of European law, and highlights the effects of globalisation of the law more generally, and the resulting cross fertilisation of norms and ideas that has occurred among previously sovereign and separate legal orders. The Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies is an invaluable resource for those wishing to keep pace with legal developments in the fast moving world of European integration. INDIVIDUAL CHAPTERS Please click on the link below to purchase individual chapters from Volume 11 through Ingenta Connect: www.ingentaconnect.com SUBSCRIPTION TO SERIES To place an annual online subscription or a print standing order through Hart Publishing please click on the link below. Please note that any customers who have a standing order for the printed volumes will now be entitled to free online access. www.hartjournals.co.uk/cyels/subs Editorial Advisory Board: Albertina Albors-Llorens, John Bell, Alan Dashwood, Simon Deakin, David Feldman, Richard Fentiman, Angus Johnston, John Spencer Founding Editors: Alan Dashwood and Angela Ward
The book gathers the general report and the national reports presented at the XXth General Congress of the IACL, in Fukuoka (Japan), on the topic “Debating legal pluralism and constitutionalism: new trajectories for legal theory in the global age”. Discussing the major contemporary changes occurring in and problems faced by domestic legal systems in the global age, the book describes how and to what extent these trends affect domestic legal orderings and practices, and challenges the traditional theoretical lenses that are offered to tackle them: constitutionalism and pluralism. Combining comparative law and comparative legal doctrine, and drawing on the national contributions, the general report concludes that most of the classic tools offered by legal doctrine are not appropriate to address most of today’s practical and theoretical global legal challenges, and as such, the book also offers new intellectual tools for the global age.
European integration has been most successful at a legal level and European influences have left an indelible mark on English Public Law. These influences must be understood by students and practitioners if they are to understand our public law and its continuing development. This new book aims to cover the debate surrounding the influence of Community law on the public law of the United Kingdom in a thematic and analytical manner.
The sphere of public law is ill-defined and controversial. Taking the broad view that it comprises aspects of (for instance) constitutional principles, good and humane administration, judicial review based on the rule of law, human rights, liability for wrongdoing, public procurement, provision of public services, transparency, social media and protection of privacy – areas that link legal control to broad governmental purposes – the third edition of this established and much-praised work expands its examination of the emergence of European public law from European Union (EU) law (and its European Community and European Economic Community antecedents), the European Convention on Human Rights and the interface of these systems with Member State systems, to include the currently all-important challenge of Brexit. The book explains in detail what European public law is and the context in which laws interact in European societies. Masterfully summarising the debate surrounding the influence of EU and European Convention law on Member State law – particularly that of the United Kingdom (UK) – in a thematic and analytical manner, the author covers the following topics and much more as they persist in the shadow of Brexit: constitutional law and administrative law in the EU and France, Germany and the UK; subsidiarity in the EU and UK devolution; openness, transparency and access to information; national parliaments and scrutiny of EU law; influence of EU law on UK judicial review; access to justice in the light of austerity and government cuts in public expenditure; the future of the UK Human Rights Act; European influence on the law of liability; EU ombudsmen and internal grievance procedures; future relationship between EU and UK domestic law; citizenship and protection of human rights; competition, regulation, public service and the market; the impact of Brexit, the legal consequences of UK withdrawal legislation and European Public Law, the EU-UK written agreements on separation and the political statement’s prospects for a post-Brexit trade deal. Detailed analyses of major cases and legal provisions are featured throughout the book. Given that the effects of Brexit will take decades to unfold, and not only in the UK, this new edition of a classic text will prove to be an invaluable guide to the ever-developing European context of domestic public law. The indelible marks of European integration must be fully understood if we are to understand public law and its future direction. The book will be of enormous assistance to political theorists and scientists and commentators and of immeasurable practical and academic importance in monitoring the future of Europe and its legal relationship with the UK. Academics and students will be rewarded by the detailed analysis of the context in which national laws and European laws interact. Practitioners in the UK, Europe and globally will gain invaluable insight into the laws they use to resolve practical questions of legal interpretation.