MARIA ELENA GENNUSA

La tutela dei diritti fondamentali nell'Unione Europea: tratti di continuità e discontinuità nella giurisprudenza comunitaria

 

 

 

 

212

Maggio-Agosto 2006

Anno LXXI    n. 2

 

 

Summary – Aim of this paper is exploring the role of the Court of Justice in the communitarian protection of fundamental rights and enlightening continuities and discontinuities in the development of its case law. In particular the system of protection introduced by the European Court of Justice is detected with regard to the judicial use of the two main sources of inspiration for the Court itself, that is constitutional traditions common to the Member States and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights; to the object of judicial review; and to the uneasy relationship between fundamental rights and market fundamental freedoms. As the object of judicial review, the analysis showed a greater discontinuity consisting in the expansion of the review – before limited only to Community measures, because of an asserted lack of competence to intervene into the internal policies  of the States – to Member State actions implementing Community law or even derogating from the Treaty. As the other two main issues dealt with in this paper, discontinuities are less  evident, hidden – as they are – under an appearance of continuity. But the most recent case-low seems to show a more deferential approach to constitutional fundamental rights which now often are let to prevail over Community fundamental freedoms.