Judicial Review - Eu

CLAIMS DOCUMENT

Outcome 1

Identify the principal issues for research in a specific legal topic.

Claim:

I have identified a number of legal issues in the essay with regards to test of locus standi for individuals before the European Court of Justice to bring about judicial review proceedings. While the topic is an integral part of the curriculum, I did ensure that I could venture on some new legal dilemmas within the area or at least identify new dimensions for the existing issues. I chose this subject area for I am currently enrolled in the EU Law Course and I considered it an ideal opportunity to firm my foundational understanding of the EU by conducting some research on the fundamental pillars and operational structure of the European Union. Surprisingly, this is the only international co-operative regime which has a pillar structure with a striking resemblance to a state. With institutions ranging over legislature, executive and judiciary, the similitude of the EU with a domestic setup lends support to elements being adopted from successful states to ensure comfortable operation of the Union as well. However unlike a state, the EU has a variety of stakeholders and interests need to be protected and it is not just a balance which needs to be maintained with two sides but it is a multi-dimensional vector which needs to be in place for progress and development of the EU.

Judicial review is one such area and this is what enticed me the most. In the domestic setup of the UK, I had been familiar with judicial review policy of the national courts. This review however was limited to the actions of the executive while the actions of the legislature, the Parliament, were beyond the scope of legality assessment. The EU presented an anomaly with multiple tiers of legislative bodies. Besides the treaties every action should be capable of being judicially reviewed for the treaties define the constitutional scope of the ECJ which could not be challenged before the...