New Frontiers for Article 19(1) TEU: A Comment on Joined Cases C-554/21, C-622/21 and C-727/21 Hann-Invest

Hann-Invest is the first case of the Court of Justice of the EU assessing the state of the rule of law and independence of the judiciary in Croatia, and the most important judgment for the country since its accession to the European Union. But the judgment also has profound transversal relevance for...

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Main Authors: Nika Bačić Selanec, Davor Petrić
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law 2024-12-01
Series:Croatian Yearbook of European Law and Policy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cyelp.com/index.php/cyelp/article/view/601
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author Nika Bačić Selanec
Davor Petrić
author_facet Nika Bačić Selanec
Davor Petrić
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description Hann-Invest is the first case of the Court of Justice of the EU assessing the state of the rule of law and independence of the judiciary in Croatia, and the most important judgment for the country since its accession to the European Union. But the judgment also has profound transversal relevance for future developments in EU law. In Hann-Invest, the Court of Justice ruled that Article 19(1) TEU precludes the Croatian judicial mechanism from ensuring the uniform application of the national case law. The disputed mechanism authorised the involvement of the national courts’ judicial administration into the decision-making process of the competent judicial panels, in particular through the so-called ‘registrations judges’ who were assigned to monitor the coherence of decisions leaving the court’s docket and by referring problematic cases to the collective decision-making of the judicial plenums in extra-procedural meetings. By declaring such an organisation of the national judiciary incompatible with EU law, the Court of Justice has established the initial doctrinal framework of ‘internal judicial independence’ under Article 19(1) TEU – further developing and reaffirming the value of the individual autonomy of national judges which, in its essence, has been considered central to the effective application of Union law since the Simmenthal ruling. Moreover, with Hann-Invest, the Court has set the trajectory of its future jurisprudence on Article 19(1) TEU beyond the scenarios of rule-of-law ‘backsliding’, potentially signalling the beginning of intense involvement with standard modes of operation of national judiciaries, which were until recently considered outside the EU’s reach.
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spelling doaj-art-7fb99e4e5c9b4894bf79de3a12a44afd2025-02-06T15:58:56ZengUniversity of Zagreb, Faculty of LawCroatian Yearbook of European Law and Policy1845-56621848-99582024-12-0120112715410.3935/cyelp.20.2024.601New Frontiers for Article 19(1) TEU: A Comment on Joined Cases C-554/21, C-622/21 and C-727/21 Hann-InvestNika Bačić Selanec0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5374-8758Davor Petrić1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7737-2150University of Zagreb Faculty of LawUniversity of Zagreb Faculty of LawHann-Invest is the first case of the Court of Justice of the EU assessing the state of the rule of law and independence of the judiciary in Croatia, and the most important judgment for the country since its accession to the European Union. But the judgment also has profound transversal relevance for future developments in EU law. In Hann-Invest, the Court of Justice ruled that Article 19(1) TEU precludes the Croatian judicial mechanism from ensuring the uniform application of the national case law. The disputed mechanism authorised the involvement of the national courts’ judicial administration into the decision-making process of the competent judicial panels, in particular through the so-called ‘registrations judges’ who were assigned to monitor the coherence of decisions leaving the court’s docket and by referring problematic cases to the collective decision-making of the judicial plenums in extra-procedural meetings. By declaring such an organisation of the national judiciary incompatible with EU law, the Court of Justice has established the initial doctrinal framework of ‘internal judicial independence’ under Article 19(1) TEU – further developing and reaffirming the value of the individual autonomy of national judges which, in its essence, has been considered central to the effective application of Union law since the Simmenthal ruling. Moreover, with Hann-Invest, the Court has set the trajectory of its future jurisprudence on Article 19(1) TEU beyond the scenarios of rule-of-law ‘backsliding’, potentially signalling the beginning of intense involvement with standard modes of operation of national judiciaries, which were until recently considered outside the EU’s reach.https://www.cyelp.com/index.php/cyelp/article/view/601article 19(1) teujudicial independenceorganisation of national judiciariesscope of eu lawrule of lawjudicial autonomyeffective application of eu law
spellingShingle Nika Bačić Selanec
Davor Petrić
New Frontiers for Article 19(1) TEU: A Comment on Joined Cases C-554/21, C-622/21 and C-727/21 Hann-Invest
Croatian Yearbook of European Law and Policy
article 19(1) teu
judicial independence
organisation of national judiciaries
scope of eu law
rule of law
judicial autonomy
effective application of eu law
title New Frontiers for Article 19(1) TEU: A Comment on Joined Cases C-554/21, C-622/21 and C-727/21 Hann-Invest
title_full New Frontiers for Article 19(1) TEU: A Comment on Joined Cases C-554/21, C-622/21 and C-727/21 Hann-Invest
title_fullStr New Frontiers for Article 19(1) TEU: A Comment on Joined Cases C-554/21, C-622/21 and C-727/21 Hann-Invest
title_full_unstemmed New Frontiers for Article 19(1) TEU: A Comment on Joined Cases C-554/21, C-622/21 and C-727/21 Hann-Invest
title_short New Frontiers for Article 19(1) TEU: A Comment on Joined Cases C-554/21, C-622/21 and C-727/21 Hann-Invest
title_sort new frontiers for article 19 1 teu a comment on joined cases c 554 21 c 622 21 and c 727 21 hann invest
topic article 19(1) teu
judicial independence
organisation of national judiciaries
scope of eu law
rule of law
judicial autonomy
effective application of eu law
url https://www.cyelp.com/index.php/cyelp/article/view/601
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