De Facto Precedent at the Court of Justice of the European Union

Ng, Gar Yein (2024) De Facto Precedent at the Court of Justice of the European Union. International Journal of Language & Law (JLL), 13. ISSN 2194-7414

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Abstract

This paper seeks to demonstrate that although there is no official doctrine of precedent in judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the research affirms that there is a de facto system of precedent. This means that whilst, de jure, there is no official precedent status of the case law of the CJEU, the Court does give precedential value to its own case law through interpretive practices to ensure the uniform application of law and legal certainty throughout the Member States of the European Union (EU). When one looks at the elements of precedent it is apparent that this goes beyond its legal value (i.e. authority or bindingness) or conscious jurisprudential choice – language also plays a role. This article will examine discussions and models of precedent in common law and civil law legal systems in both theory and practice, before going on to examine the theories and practices of precedent at the CJEU.

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