The following conference took place online last week:
The project Judges
Assessing the Independence of Judges. Historical Foundations and Practical
Procedures in Facing the Threats against the Rule of Law in Europe runs at
the Faculty of Law, Lund University, Sweden, 2020-2022. Members of the research
group are professor Xavier Groussot (EU law), associate professor Martin
Sunnqvist (legal history) and assistant professor Lotta Maunsbach (procedural
law).
Background to
the project: Impartial and independent courts are cornerstones of the success of the
European project. The recent renaissance of ‘illiberal states’, to use the
words of Viktor Orbán in 2014, jeopardizes the application of the rule of law
and risk destroying the foundations of the EU legal order. During 2018, the ECJ
has developed two new lines of case law: On the one hand, the ECJ has made
itself competent to rule on matters regarding the independence of the
judiciary, which used to be part of the pure internal competence of the Member
States. On the other hand, the ECJ has empowered national courts to realize a
‘rule of law’ check of other Member States, by assessing the independence and
impartiality of the issuing judicial authorities in the context of the arrest
warrant – a new task for courts of first instance.
Aim of the
project:
We aim at analyzing this recent evolution using a European, historical and
procedural perspective. We combine a historic analysis of the development of
the rule of law and similar but not identical concepts Rechtsstaat and état de
droit with an analysis of the roles of the EU institutions and the procedural
aspects of of a ‘fair trial’ and the mutual trust (and distrust) between courts
and judiciaries in different member states. This will be a fruitful way of
getting a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in the
protection of the independence and impartiality of the judiciary in Europe.
In the two-day
online conference 28-29 September 2021, we wish to discuss historical and
procedural aspects relevant to our project. How do we define the ‘rule of law’
and the ‘Rechtsstaat’ that we are discussing? What is the origin of these
concepts? What approaches can courts use in dealing procedurally with a rule of
law crisis in another country?
The
project is financed by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and administered by the
Faculty of Law, Lund University.
Programme:
(With reservation for changes.)
Tuesday 28 September 2021:
I.
Rule of law – the origins and the implementation of
the thought that the ruler is bound by the laws
Swedish time (CEST
— Central European Summer Time)
14.30 Introduction
14.40 Atria Larson (Saint Louis
University): Liberty and the Rule of Law in the Medieval Age
15.20 Marie-France Fortin (University of
Ottawa): The King Can Do No Wrong – the Evolution of the Rule of Law from
the Late Middle Ages up to the 21st Century
16.00 – 16.10
Pause
16.10 Raffaella Bianchi Riva (University
of Milan): Independence of Advocates as a Requirement for Independence of Judges
16.50 Martin Sunnqvist (Lund University): The
Rechtsstaat in a Material and a Formal Sense
17.30 – 17.40
Pause
17.40 William Phelan (Trinity College,
Dublin): Robert Lecourt and the Development of the Basic Principles of EU Legal
Order
18.20 Concluding discussion
19.00 End
Wednesday 29 September
2021:
II.
Procedure – how does a court assess whether another
state does not adhere to the principle of the rule of law?
Swedish time
(CEST — Central European Summer Time)
8.30 Introduction
8.40 Petra Bárd (Central European
University/European University Institute): How to Deal with the LM Test?
9.20 Birgit Aasa (Copenhagen
university): Mutual Trust and the Rule of Law
10.00 – 10.10
Pause
10.10 Vincent Glerum (Rechtbank
Amsterdam/University of Groningen): The Case Law of Dutch Courts Relating to
the EAW and Poland
10.50 Lotta Maunsbach (Lund University): Procedural
Aspects on Impartial and Independent Judging. How Can a Court Decide Whether Another
Court and its Judges are Impartial and Independent?
11.30 Concluding discussion
12.00 – 13.00
Pause
III.
The current status in Hungary and Poland
13.00 Viktor Vadász (Hungarian Judge,
member of the National Judicial Council): The Current Situation in Hungary
13.30 Dorota Zabludowska (Polish Judge, board
member of the Polish Judges Association Iustitia): The Current Situation in
Poland
14.00 Questions and discussion
IV.
How can the concept ‘rule of law’ be defined?
14.30 Xavier Groussot (Lund University): The
Distinction between ‘Rule of Law’ and ‘Rule by Law’. A common concept of ‘Rule
of Law’ in the European Union?
15.10 Theodore Konstadinides (University
of Essex): The Rule of Law in the UK Post-Brexit: An Uncommon Concept of
‘Rule of Law’ outside the European Union?
15.50 – 17.00 Concluding
discussion on topics that have been brought forward during the conference, such
as:
·
Is there a common definition of the rule of law in Europe, or what are
the main differences in various definitions?
·
How can the historical development of the concepts Rechtsstaat and
rule of law contribute to our understanding and to clarity?
·
How can these concepts be used as practical tools when the independence
of courts and judges is to be assessed?
How to participate?
The conference
takes place through Zoom.
To participate,
send an e-mail message to martin.sunnqvist@jur.lu.se
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