How Does the European Court of Justice Reason? A Review Essay on the Legal Reasoning of the European Court of Justice |
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| Authors: | Mark Dawson |
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| Institution: | Hertie School of Governance, , BerlinProf. Mark Dawson, Professor of European Law and Governance (dawson@hertie‐school.org). The author would like to gratefully acknowledge the support of a Marie‐Curie Career Integration Grant (Project Number: 321849‐LAW2020). |
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| Abstract: | This review essay analyses two significant recent contributions to the debate over the reasoning of the Court of Justice (CJ). These contributions highlight the impossibility of a wholly scientific and deductive approach to attributing ‘correct’ outcomes to the Court's case‐law. At the same time, their analysis adds significant findings for the debate over the Court's possible ‘activist’ or political role. Following from these contributions, this essay makes two arguments: firstly, that the inability of the Court to anchor its reasoning solely in a deductive form of legal reasoning should encourage the CJ to engage in a more advanced ‘constitutional dialogue’ with the EU's political institutions; and secondly, that truly understanding the Court's reasoning involves a closer analysis of the institutional and personal dynamics influencing Court decisions. Understanding European judicial reasoning may require a closer look at the social and political—as well as doctrinal—context within which European judges act. |
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