Articles for tag: and the Rule of LawDemokratieEGMREMRKEUFramework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human RightsKI

Of Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Rights Charters

The Council of Europe has adopted the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence – the first of its kind. Notably, the Framework Convention includes provisions specifically tailored to enable the EU’s participation. At the same time, the EU has developed its own framework around AI. I argue that the EU should adopt the Framework Convention, making an essential first step toward integrating the protection of fundamental rights of the EU Charter. Ultimately, this should create a common constitutional language and bridge the EU and the Council of Europe to strengthen fundamental rights in Europe.

Stuck Between Unity and Diversity

The role of the EU Charter in disputes concerning fundamental rights standards between the EU and Member States has been characterized by ambiguity ever since the Charter’s inception. As the EU deepens integration of Member States to effectively face the challenges ahead, I advocate for a pluralistic interpretation of Article 53 of the Charter that allows for a greater degree of accommodation of national particularities. In that way, one would reduce constitutional tensions and find that there may be unity in diversity after all.

Interviewing EU Judges

Who are the women and men behind the CJEU’s decisions? The CJEU is an incredibly powerful institution, yet little is known about the backgrounds, judicial philosophies, and ambitions of its judges and advocates general. The Union’s “Help Desk,” as CJEU President Koen Lenaerts modestly describes the Court, is now interpreting broad-ranging rules while also giving legal meaning to ambitious and ambiguous values such as the rule of law. This is where the Borderlines archive comes in – we interview the judges and advocates general of the Court of Justice, to learn about their backgrounds, varied experiences, and their jurisprudential philosophies.

Reconciling National and European Constitutional Legalities

In light of the increasingly established autonomous European constitutional legality, national constitutional courts are now compelled to reconsider their roles. Through a progressive expansion of its direct applicability by national ordinary judges, the Charter of Fundamental Rights risks fostering the marginalization of national constitutional courts. I argue that the solution lies in a highly differentiated consolidation of constitutional legalities that integrates and embraces the unique roles of national constitutional courts in their respective systems of adjudication.

Pouring New Wine into Old Wineskins

The three seemingly trivial observations that follow inform three substantive proposals regarding the protection of fundamental rights within the EU. To address the challenges faced by national constitutional courts and the CJEU, it is essential to leverage existing procedural tools within domestic legal systems. Additionally, expanding the applicability of these versatile tools and considering a structural revision of the judicial bodies may facilitate the creation of hybrid entities that could collaboratively address major issues, thereby steering constitutional developments in the EU.

The right lessons from Trump 1.0

The US withdrawal from international institutions is a broader trend, not solely tied to Trump-era policies. Consequently, European governments that aim to preserve the rules-based international order should be prepared to take the lead and fill the gap left by the US exit. To pursue this strategy effectively, certain imperatives must be addressed.

Fundamental Rights Come Off the Bench

In 2014, the European Court of Justice clearly prioritised the EU’s position on the unity and effectiveness of EU law over the protection of fundamental rights (Opinion 2/13). Ten years later, in October 2024, a judgment pitting football against the media seems to have turned the tables. In Real Madrid vs Le Monde, the Court held that excessive defamation damages may breach the freedom of the press and trigger the public policy exception. This is a significant shift, prioritising fundamental rights protection over the traditional objective of seamless judicial cooperation across the EU.

Why the EU Charter Matters

This blog post argues that the most interesting aspect of the Charter of Fundamental Rights at the moment is its impact on remedies in national law. Almost 15 years since its entry into force, it is not unusual to meet domestic lawyers and judges who will voice doubts as to whether the Charter really matters in practice. Yet, through the right to an effective remedy under Article 47, the Charter opens up domestic law for new (or modified) remedies, thus placing national procedural autonomy under greater constraint than it was from the principles of effectiveness and equivalence.