30 October 2024
Whither, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
So, has the Charter come of age, now that it is nearing its quarter century, and has been binding in force for nearly 15 of those years. No longer is the Charter a “sleeping beauty”, and no longer are fundamental rights mere epiphenomena in EU law – offshoots framed in the amorphous category of “general principles of law” – creations of the EU’s earlier desire for legitimacy in its quest for greater integration. The EU Charter contains the essence of a common language, a currency that all can understand. And the EU is better with it than without it. Continue reading >>
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14 October 2022
A Second Scottish Independence Referendum in the UK Supreme Court
On October 11 and 12 an important case was argued in the UK Supreme Court over whether the Scottish Parliament has the competence to enact an independence referendum Bill. The Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, the principle Law Officer for the Scottish Government, brought a reference to the Supreme Court under the Scotland Act 1998 Schedule 6 paragraph 34. Even though the prospects for the case are unencouraging, an independence referendum is only one limb of the Scottish Government’s planned strategy for independence. Continue reading >>02 November 2019
Scotland, Brexit and Independence
The past month has been important for Brexit developments, with UK Prime Minister Johnson attempting a ‘last minute’ Brexit deal with the EU. In particular, arrangements concerning Northern Ireland have featured prominently. But now, all appears to have been set aside for a December UK general election. However, the UK is composed of four nations, and Scotland’s position in the UK union, often ignored in the Brexit context, now appears near to ‘tipping point’, especially after First Minister Sturgeon’s recent confirmation that Scotland would hold an independence referendum in 2020. Continue reading >>13 March 2015
Opinion 2/13 and the ‘elephant in the room’: A response to Daniel Halberstam
Halberstam is right to highlight the CJEU’s focus on autonomy. But in so doing so we are missing something far more important. Human rights are here the elephant in the room. Accession to a human rights treaty should not be primarily about the autonomy of the EU legal order. It should be primarily about how best to protect human rights. Continue reading >>24 December 2014
Opinion 2/13 on EU accession to the ECHR: a Christmas bombshell from the European Court of Justice
On 18 December 2014, the ECJ delivered its long awaited Opinion 2/13 on the compatibility with EU law of the draft agreement for EU accession to the ECHR. The ECJ concluded, to the great surprise of many, that the accession agreement is not compatible with EU law. Indeed it found so many obstacles with the agreement that it has now rendered accession very difficult, if not impossible. Continue reading >>17 September 2014
Scotland and the EU: Eleventh hour thoughts on a contested subject
Is the ‘spectre of disintegration’ haunting Europe? Joseph Weiler fears that it is, and that, were an independent Scotland to be admitted as an EU state, this would lead to a domino effect whereby others would demand independence within the EU – testimony of an atavistic, retrogressive mentality, and adverse to the EU’s raison d’etre. This is a strongly put view, and not all will agree with it. Nonetheless, most of the papers in this highly stimulating symposium address, albeit in very different ways, the concern that lies at the base of Weiler’s argument – namely, the character of the EU, the nature of its values, its very reason for being. They also address the more workaday, but nonetheless critical, legal and practical issues that an independent Scotland’s membership pose. Continue reading >>08 September 2014